In the News
Regardless of your political ideology or where you fall on the environmental spectrum, we can agree on one thing: American public land needs healthy forests and the more public and private land we can dedicate to sustainable growing trees, the better our environment will be.
For the third straight session of Congress, U.S. Rep. Bruce Westerman has introduced legislation that would make it harder for environmentalists to delay or derail federal forest management plans.
The measure would also speed up the regulatory process, while also removing some of the statutory hurdles that have existed for decades.
The Republican from Hot Springs said the bill, if approved, would help prevent huge wildfires, better utilize the nation's natural resources and lessen the environmental damage caused by major conflagrations.
Rep. Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., introduced legislation Wednesday to expand the pace and scale of forest management projects meant to reduce the risk of wildfires that have become more destructive and common.
The bill represents a continued push by Republicans backed by the Trump administration who argue poor forest management is contributing to the severity of wildfires in California and other parts of the western United States.
GOP Rep. Bruce Westerman wants to put federal forest management at the top of Congress’s list of priorities for 2019 and avoid a repeat of 2018’s deadly wildfire season.
Westerman wants to amend the House Committee on Natural Resources’ rules package and carve out a specific policy jurisdiction on managing federal forests, a move the Arkansas representative hopes will force lawmakers to focus on crafting policies that include more active forest management.