April 11, 2025 – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
SUWA Statement on Senate Introduction of the Incorrectly Named Fix Our Forests Act – 4.11.25
Removing public review and local community input will not solve wildfire challenges
Contacts:
Kya Marienfeld, Wildlands Attorney, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (435) 259-5440; (kya@suwa.org)
Grant Stevens, Communications Director, Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA); (319) 427-0260; grant@suwa.org
Washington, DC – Today, the incorrectly named Fix Our Forests Act or FOFA (S. 1462) was introduced in the US Senate. Below is a statement from SUWA Wildlands Attorney Kya Marienfeld and additional information.
“Native pinyon pine and juniper woodlands–the primary forest type in and around the redrock wilderness–could be decimated if this legislation passes,” said Kya Marienfeld, SUWA Wildlands Attorney. “Far from achieving its worthwhile goals of improving forest health, boosting forest restoration, and protecting communities, this bill undermines core environmental protections, leaving taxpayers with destroyed landscapes and making communities more prone to unnatural wildfire, not less. At the same time, the bill would decrease agency transparency and cut out community input–the very opposite of what is needed for successful fire prevention and land restoration.”
“Efforts to improve the bill from the House version are welcome, yet the end result is not enough to overcome the damage that this bill will cause to public lands. For example, Section 106–regarding categorical exclusions for large vegetation removal projects, which would apply to BLM forests in Utah–was improved by limiting the planned acreage expansion to 7,500 acres, but this is still much too large of an area for fast tracking deforestation projects without proper environmental review. There are additional concerns that must be taken into account as Senators consider this bill in the Senate Committee on Agriculture.”
Additional Information:
During the 119th Congress, FOFA (H.R.471) was first introduced in the House by Rep. Bruce Westermann (R-AR-04); on January 23, 2025, it passed the House of Representatives. As noted in a January 16, 2025 coalition letter that SUWA signed, “This legislation purports to be about sound forest management and fire, but it could actually make fires worse, and is really about stifling citizen voices, removing science from land management decisions, and legislating a large-scale rollback of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on millions of acres of federal lands. Its sweeping provisions remove scientific review and accountability to benefit the short-term interests of extractive industries.”
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The Southern Utah Wilderness Alliance (SUWA) is a nonprofit organization with members and supporters from around the country dedicated to protecting America’s redrock wilderness. From offices in Moab, Salt Lake City, and Washington, DC, our team of professionals defends the redrock, organizes support for America’s Red Rock Wilderness Act, and stewards this world-renowned landscape. Learn more at www.suwa.org.