releases: https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/fourth-time-four-years-house-passes-major-wildfire-prevention-forestry
Data license: MIT · Data source: dwillis/congress-press
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| https://walden.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/fourth-time-four-years-house-passes-major-wildfire-prevention-forestry | For the fourth time in four years, House passes major wildfire prevention, forestry reform plan with Greg Waldens support | 2016-05-26 | 2016 | 2016-05 | Republican | House | OR | Greg Walden | W000791 | walden.house.gov | legacy | For the fourth time in four years, House passes major wildfire prevention, forestry reform plan with Greg Walden's support Click here or on the photo below for video of Walden's speech on the House floor WASHINGTON, DC As Oregon prepares for yet another fire season, the U.S. House of Representatives has again passed a bipartisan bill to reduce the threat of catastrophic wildfire in national forests with strong support from U.S. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Hood River). The Resilient Federal Forests Act would bring much needed reforms to federal forest policy and help bring active management back to our forests. It was passed as part of a larger energy bill as a way to pressure the U.S. Senate to take action on forestry legislation. This House, for four years in a row, has considered much needed legislation to fix the management of our federal forests. Now the Senate will have the opportunity to join us in this effort as we amend this legislation and send it over to the Senate. Our rural forested communities have waited long enough. They have choked on smoke summer after summer long enough. They've seen their watersheds get destroyed by catastrophic fire. It's time to fix the problem, Walden said during debate on the bill on the House floor. On national forests across eastern Oregon, forest mangers' hands are tied by one-size-fits-all rule prohibiting the harvest of trees over 21 inches in diameter. This measure was implemented temporarily in 1997, but still has not been lifted nearly 20 years later. It represents really poor science. It only serves as a source of frequent appeals and litigation. Repealing this will give our forest managers the flexibility they need to use modern science to actually manage the forests for healthier conditions, Walden continued. Last month, the Bureau of Land Management released their proposed Resource Management Plan for Oregon's unique O&C lands in southern and western Oregon. And frankly, it's a terrible plan. Despite a clear statutory requirement that they manage these lands for sustainable timber production and revenue to the counties, dare I say jobs in the communities, the BLM's plan goes the other way. It locks up 75% of the lands and harvests less than half the minimum level directed by the O&C Act. This is a job killer. This bill includes bipartisan legislation that I wrote working with my colleagues Oregon, Representatives DeFazio and Schrader, to cut costs, increase timber harvest and revenue for the local counties, and directs the BLM to revise their flawed management plan to actually reflect the underlying act. Mr. Speaker, this is good energy legislation. This is good natural resource legislation. This is sound environmental legislation. I urge its passage, Walden continued. The bill originally passed the House on a bipartisan vote in July of 2015, but the Senate has yet to act on any forestry legislation. The House also passed forestry legislation coauthored by Walden in 2013 and 2014, but those proposals were not acted upon by the Senate either. The Resilient Federal Forests Act seeks to improve forest health and resiliency by simplifying environmental process requirements, reducing project planning times and reducing the cost of implementing forest management projects while still ensuring robust protection of the environment. The bill also helps solve the long-standing fire borrowing problem by allowing the Forest Service to request FEMA disaster funds for fire suppression without having to continually rob their internal fire prevention accounts. For more information on the bill, please click here. Passage of this bill continues Walden's mission to make forest policy work for Oregonians. He has been a leader in writing other bipartisan forestry plans, including the Healthy Forest Restoration Act, the Forest Emergency Research and Recovery Act, and the FLAME Act. | 1 | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z | 2026-03-30T12:14:52Z |