Defenders of Wildlife Opposes Bill Removing Key Protections from Millions of Acres of Public Forests

In advance of its markup by the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee, Defenders of Wildlife urges lawmakers to oppose H.R. 8790, the misleadingly named “Fix our Forests Act.” The bill is sponsored by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-AR) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-CA).

As written, this bill eliminates key safeguards from the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act from millions of acres of public land, removes scientific review from management decisions, and makes it easier to log old-growth trees from forests. Old-growth trees are especially important for fire-resistance, providing habitat for imperiled wildlife and carbon storage.

 “This bill is being sold as an effort to protect communities from wildfires, but in actuality does anything but. It tears down essential environmental laws and opens our public lands to immense logging projects that can increase susceptibility to harmful fires,” said Robert Dewey, vice president of government relations for Defenders of Wildlife. “We must be protecting forest ecosystems, not chopping them down at devastating scales. Our forests need to be standing and resilient against climate change, not felled and fragile and primed for fire.”

The bill would also frustrate judicial review of land management decisions, removing accountability from the public.