[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1462 Reported in Senate (RS)]
<DOC>
Calendar No. 212
119th CONGRESS
1st Session
S. 1462
To improve forest management activities on National Forest System land,
public land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management,
and Tribal land to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested
land, and for other purposes.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES
April 10, 2025
Mr. Curtis (for himself, Mr. Hickenlooper, Mr. Sheehy, and Mr. Padilla)
introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry
October 27, 2025
Reported by Mr. Boozman, with an amendment
[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed
in italic]
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To improve forest management activities on National Forest System land,
public land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management,
and Tribal land to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested
land, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
<DELETED>SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Short Title.--This Act may be cited as the ``Fix Our
Forests Act''.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (b) Table of Contents.--The table of contents for this Act
is as follows:</DELETED>
<DELETED>Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents.
<DELETED>Sec. 2. Definitions.
<DELETED>TITLE I--LANDSCAPE-SCALE RESTORATION
<DELETED>Subtitle A--Addressing Emergency Wildfire Risks in High-
priority Firesheds
<DELETED>Sec. 101. Designation of fireshed management areas.
<DELETED>Sec. 102. Wildfire Intelligence Center.
<DELETED>Sec. 103. Fireshed Registry.
<DELETED>Sec. 104. Shared stewardship.
<DELETED>Sec. 105. Fireshed assessments.
<DELETED>Sec. 106. Emergency fireshed management.
<DELETED>Sec. 107. Sunset.
<DELETED>Subtitle B--Expanding Collaborative Tools to Reduce Wildfire
Risk and Improve Forest Health
<DELETED>Sec. 111. Modification of treatment of certain revenue and
payments under good neighbor agreements.
<DELETED>Sec. 112. Fixing stewardship end result contracting.
<DELETED>Sec. 113. Fireshed management project strike teams.
<DELETED>Sec. 114. Locally led restoration.
<DELETED>Sec. 115. Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership
Program.
<DELETED>Sec. 116. Collaborative forest landscape restoration program.
<DELETED>Sec. 117. Utilizing grazing for wildfire risk reduction.
<DELETED>Sec. 118. Water Source Protection Program.
<DELETED>Sec. 119. Watershed Condition Framework technical corrections.
<DELETED>Sec. 120. Tribal forest protection management activities and
projects.
<DELETED>Subtitle C--Litigation Reform
<DELETED>Sec. 121. Commonsense litigation reform.
<DELETED>Sec. 122. Consultation on forest plans.
<DELETED>Subtitle D--Prescribed Fire
<DELETED>Sec. 131. Prescribed fire eligible activities, policies, and
practices.
<DELETED>Sec. 132. Human resources.
<DELETED>Sec. 133. Liability of prescribed fire managers.
<DELETED>Sec. 134. Environmental review.
<DELETED>Sec. 135. Cooperative agreements and contracts for prescribed
fire.
<DELETED>Sec. 136. Facilitating responsible use of prescribed fire.
<DELETED>TITLE II--PROTECTING COMMUNITIES IN WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE
<DELETED>Subtitle A--Community Wildfire Risk Reduction
<DELETED>Sec. 201. Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program.
<DELETED>Sec. 202. Community Wildfire Defense Research Program.
<DELETED>Sec. 203. Community wildfire defense accountability.
<DELETED>Sec. 204. Community wildfire defense grant program
improvements.
<DELETED>Sec. 205. Updated definition of at-risk community.
<DELETED>Subtitle B--Vegetation Management, Reforestation, and Local
Fire Suppression
<DELETED>Sec. 211. Vegetation management, facility inspection, and
operation and maintenance relating to
electric transmission and distribution
facility rights-of-way.
<DELETED>Sec. 212. Fire-safe electrical corridors.
<DELETED>Sec. 213. Categorical exclusion for high-priority hazard
trees.
<DELETED>Sec. 214. Seeds of Success strategy.
<DELETED>Sec. 215. Program to support priority reforestation and
restoration projects.
<DELETED>Sec. 216. Reforestation, nurseries, and genetic resources
support.
<DELETED>Sec. 217. Fire department repayment.
<DELETED>TITLE III--TRANSPARENCY, TECHNOLOGY, AND PARTNERSHIPS
<DELETED>Subtitle A--Transparency and Technology
<DELETED>Sec. 301. Biochar innovations and opportunities for
conservation, health, and advancements in
research.
<DELETED>Sec. 302. Accurate hazardous fuels reduction reports.
<DELETED>Sec. 303. Public-private wildfire technology deployment and
demonstration partnership.
<DELETED>Sec. 304. GAO study on Forest Service policies.
<DELETED>Sec. 305. Keeping forest plans current and monitored.
<DELETED>Sec. 306. Container Aerial Firefighting System.
<DELETED>Sec. 307. Study on pine beetle infestation.
<DELETED>Subtitle B--White Oak Resilience
<DELETED>Sec. 311. White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition.
<DELETED>Sec. 312. Forest Service pilot program.
<DELETED>Sec. 313. Department of the Interior white oak review and
restoration.
<DELETED>Sec. 314. White oak regeneration and upland oak habitat.
<DELETED>Sec. 315. Tree nursery shortages.
<DELETED>Sec. 316. White oak research.
<DELETED>Sec. 317. USDA formal initiative.
<DELETED>Sec. 318. Use of authorities.
<DELETED>TITLE IV--ENSURING CASUALTY ASSISTANCE FOR FIREFIGHTERS
<DELETED>Sec. 401. Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance
Program.
<DELETED>SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> In this Act:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) End water user.--The term ``end water user''
has the meaning given the term in section 303(a) of the Healthy
Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6542(a)).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Executive director.--The term ``Executive
Director'' means the Executive Director of the Wildfire
Intelligence Center appointed under section 102(g).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (3) Fireshed.--The term ``fireshed'' means a
landscape-scale area, as delineated using methods developed
through research conducted by the Forest Service, that
represents similar source levels of community exposure to
wildfire.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (4) Fireshed management area.--The term ``fireshed
management area'' means a fireshed management area designated
under section 101(a).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (5) Fireshed management project.--The term
``fireshed management project'' means any of the following
forest or vegetation management activities:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) A hazardous fuels management
activity.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) Creating a fuel break or fire
break.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) Removing hazard trees, dead trees, or
dying trees, as determined by a responsible
official.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (D) Developing, approving, or conducting
routine maintenance under a vegetation management,
facility inspection, and operation and maintenance plan
under section 512(c) of the Federal Land Policy and
Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1772(c)).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (E) Removing trees to address overstocking
or crowding in a forest stand, consistent with
achieving the appropriate basal area of the forest
stand, as determined by a responsible
official.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (F) Using treatments to address insects or
disease or to control vegetation competition or
invasive species.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (G) A wet-meadow, floodplain, or riparian
restoration activity that increases wildfire
resistance.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (H) A forest stand improvement activity
necessary to protect life and property from
catastrophic wildfire, as determined by a responsible
official.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (I) Any combination of activities
described in this paragraph.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (6) Fireshed registry.--The term ``Fireshed
Registry'' means the registry established under section
103(a).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (7) Forest plan.--The term ``forest plan'' means--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) a land use plan prepared by the Bureau
of Land Management for public land pursuant to section
202 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1712);</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) a land and resource management plan
prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the
National Forest System pursuant to section 6 of the
Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act
of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1604); and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) a forest management plan (as defined
in section 304 of the National Indian Forest Resources
Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3103)) with respect to Indian
forest land or rangeland.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (8) Governor.--The term ``Governor'' means the
Governor or other appropriate executive official of--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) a State; or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) an Indian Tribe.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (9) Hazardous fuels management activity.--The term
``hazardous fuels management activity'' means a vegetation
management activity, or any combination of such activities,
that reduces the risk of wildfire, including mechanical
thinning, mastication, prescribed burning, cultural burning (as
determined by an applicable Indian Tribe), timber harvest, and
grazing.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (10) HFRA terms.--The terms ``at-risk community'',
``community wildfire protection plan'', and ``wildland-urban
interface'' have the meanings given those terms in section 101
of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C.
6511).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (11) Indian forest land or rangeland.--The term
``Indian forest land or rangeland'' means land that--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) is held in trust, or subject to a
restriction against alienation, by the United States
for an Indian Tribe or a member of an Indian Tribe;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B)(i) is Indian forest land (as defined
in section 304 of the National Indian Forest Resources
Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3103)); or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii)(I) has a cover of grasses, brush, or
any similar vegetation; or</DELETED>
<DELETED> (II) formerly had a forest cover or
vegetative cover that is capable of
restoration.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (12) Indian tribe.--The term ``Indian Tribe'' has
the meaning given the term in section 4 of the Indian Self-
Determination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C.
5304).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (13) National forest system.--The term ``National
Forest System'' has the meaning given the term in section 11(a)
of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of
1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)).</DELETED>
<DELETED> (14) Public land.--The term ``public land''
means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) public lands (as defined in section
103 of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702));</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the land reconveyed to the United
States pursuant to the first section of the Act of
February 26, 1919 (40 Stat. 1179, chapter 47) (commonly
known as ``Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands'') under the
jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) the land revested in the United States
by the Act of June 9, 1916 (39 Stat. 218, chapter 137)
(commonly known as ``Oregon and California Railroad
Grant lands'') under the jurisdiction of the Secretary
of the Interior.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (15) Relevant committees of congress.--The term
``relevant committees of Congress'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) in the Senate--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) the Committee on Agriculture,
Nutrition, and Forestry; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) the Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) in the House of Representatives--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) the Committee on Agriculture;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) the Committee on Natural
Resources.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (16) Secretaries.--The term ``Secretaries''
means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the Secretary; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the Secretary of the
Interior.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (17) Secretary.--The term ``Secretary'' means the
Secretary of Agriculture.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (18) Secretary concerned.--The term ``Secretary
concerned'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) the Secretary, with respect to
National Forest System land; and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the Secretary of the Interior, with
respect to public land.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (19) Special district.--The term ``special
district'' means a political subdivision of a State that--
</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) has significant budgetary autonomy or
control;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) was established by, or pursuant to,
the laws of the State for the purpose of performing a
limited and specific governmental or proprietary
function primarily relating to land management;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) is distinct from any other unit of
local government within the State.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (20) State.--The term ``State'' means--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) each of the several States;</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) the District of Columbia;
and</DELETED>
<DELETED> (C) each territory of the United
States.</DELETED>
<DELETED>TITLE I--LANDSCAPE-SCALE RESTORATION</DELETED>
<DELETED>Subtitle A--Addressing Emergency Wildfire Risks in High-
priority Firesheds</DELETED>
<DELETED>SEC. 101. DESIGNATION OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT AREAS.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (a) Designations.--</DELETED>
<DELETED> (1) Initial designations.--Subject to paragraph
(4), for the 5-year period beginning on the date of enactment
of this Act, the following firesheds are designated as fireshed
management areas:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (A) Each landscape-scale fireshed
identified as a ``high-risk fireshed'' in the document
published by the Forest Service entitled ``Wildfire
Crisis Strategy'' and dated January 2022.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (B) Of the 7,688 firesheds described in
the report published by the Rocky Mountain Research
Station of the Forest Service in 2019, each landscape-
scale fireshed identified by the Secretary, in
consultation with the Secretary of the Interior, as
being in the top 20 percent for wildfire exposure based
on the following criteria:</DELETED>
<DELETED> (i) Wildfire exposure and
corresponding risk to communities, including
risk to life, critical infrastructure, and
other structures.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (ii) Wildfire exposure and
corresponding risk to municipal watersheds,
including Tribal water supplies and
systems.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (iii) Risk of vegetation type
conversion due to wildfire, based on
information from existing forest plans, State
forest action plans, and best available
science.</DELETED>
<DELETED> (2) Desi