Senator Cantwell Introduces Bipartisan Compromise to Fight Record-Breaking Wildfires

Bill will foster rural jobs restoring forests and help make communities safe 

READ: Wildland Fires Act of 2017 HERE

READ: Section-by-section summary of the bill HERE 

In the wake of another historic wildfire season, Ranking Member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Maria Cantwell (D-WA) and a bipartisan group of Western Senators introduced a common-sense bill to better prepare for and prevent costly wildfires while supporting rural jobs restoring forests.

The Wildland Fires Act of 2017 (S.1991) will help further the Federal and State firefighting agencies’ “National Cohesive Fire Strategy” by authorizing additional funding for at-risk communities and directing Federal agencies to treat their most-at-risk forests to better protect communities and to reestablish natural fire regimes. 

In addition, the bill will provide stability to companies involved in restoration projects on Federal land, particularly those focused on cross-laminated timber. Several cross-laminated timber companies have recently expressed interest in developing businesses throughout Washington state.

 “It's time to create new tools to reduce fire risk and help better protect our communities‎. By targeting our most vulnerable pine forests, this science-based pilot program gives the Forest Service tools to address wildfire in our most vulnerable forests and prioritizes cross-laminated timber.”  

-Senator Cantwell

Specifically, this bill:

  • Directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to provide up to $100 million in funding to at-risk communities to plan and prepare for wildfires;
  • Authorizes longer-term contracts to provide stability to companies involved in restoration projects on Federal land, and gives a preference for companies that will use forest products to create mass timber, e.g., cross-laminated timber.
  • Establishes a pilot program that directs the Forest Service and the Department of the Interior to treat their top 1% most-at-risk, least-controversial lands over the next 10 years (and in doing so install fuel breaks in the wildland-urban interface and, outside of the WUI, conduct prescribed fires); and
  • Authorizes the Federal agencies to re-purpose unused wildfire suppression funds to conduct preparedness projects to get ahead of the problem

 

Read what supporters across Washington state and the country are saying about the Wildland Fires Act of 2017:

 

Mitch Friedman, Executive Director of Conservation Northwest 

"This bill does more to address the genuine problems than any bill we’ve seen to date. Its emphasis on using prescribed fire is firmly rooted in science."

Collin O’Mara, President & CEO of the National Wildlife Federation 

"As record megafires continue to rage in the West, we absolutely must accelerate the restoration of our National Forests and reduce threats to local communities and wildlife. Senator Cantwell’s bipartisan, common-sense legislation focuses forest restoration work where it can have the greatest and most immediate impact, with the least controversy. It will improve the quality and pace of forest restoration, help increase wildlife populations, and enhance watershed health—all of which will improve forest health and mitigate fire risks."

Travis Joseph, President of the American Forest Resource Council 

"Senator Cantwell has been a national leader in pushing for real forest management reforms that will improve forest health and resiliency, provide renewable materials for domestic manufacturing, and create jobs in hard hit rural communities throughout the West. The Wildland Fires Act of 2017 is a thoughtful response to our nation’s public forest health crisis – including this year’s devastating fire season that filled our air with toxic smoke and scorched millions of acres of forests. We look forward to working with Senator Cantwell and her colleagues in the Senate to pass meaningful forestry reform legislation this year."

Russ Vaagen, CEO of Vaagen Timbers 

"When it comes to wildfire, the one thing we can affect is fuel. By significantly improving the pace and scale of thinning and other collaborative forest restoration efforts, we can have positive impacts on our forests, environment, and communities."

Fire Chief Thomas Jenkins, President & Chairman of the International Association of Fire Chiefs 

"The IAFC thanks Senator Cantwell for her continued leadership in fighting wildland fires in Washington and across the United States. This important legislation will provide additional resources and funding to protect at-risk communities and assist federal agencies in developing risk assessments and preparedness programs. The IAFC is pleased to support this legislation and encourages Congress to pass it quickly."

Timothy Ingalsbee, Executive Director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology  

"With limited federal dollars and even less time available to help forests adapt to ongoing climate change, we cannot afford to go backwards by resurrecting logging policies of the past that are part of the problems affecting firefighters’ abilities to safely manage wildfires of the present. We must utilize the best ecological fire science to target treatments where they will address the greatest risks to people with the least impacts to ecosystems, and above all include fire as both a means and an ends of restoration projects."

Matthew Chase, Executive Director of the National Association of Counties 

"Counties support this bill because it can lead to more active management, increase timber harvests and help to reduce the threat of wildfire. Healthy forests can help to build healthy, safe and vibrant counties. We will continue to work with Capitol Hill leaders to pursue active forest management, and we thank Senators Cantwell, Murray, Risch, Wyden, Crapo and Merkley for their leadership on this issue."

Joe Fox, Chairman of Forest Mgmt. Committee, National Association of State Foresters 

"This bill recognizes the importance of partnerships in dealing with the large number of federally owned acres that are prone to uncharacteristically severe fire. Foremost among these partnerships are those with state agencies and local governments. This Bill appropriately places the priority on protecting those areas that are within the wildland-urban interface."

Philip Rigdon, President of the Intertribal Timber Conference 

"This legislation engages Indian tribes and their expertise to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration work on federal lands to make fire-prone forests more resilient."

Andy Elsbree, Vice President of Green Diamond  

"It is vitally important to steward our federal forests, as diseased and overstocked forests are susceptible to catastrophic fire, whose effects know no boundaries. We cannot continue to wait and watch as wildfire consumes our natural resources in the West. This bill provides a win-win: healthier forests and healthier rural communities."

Andrea Howell, Corporate Affairs Director of Sierra Pacific Industries  

"This bill takes an important step toward reducing the risk and severity of wildfires near at-risk communities and high value watersheds in the pine type forests throughout the west. Developing forest restoration treatments through collaborative processes will engage those most effected by the threat of wildfire and help safeguard the health and safety of our rural communities."