On Wednesday, the House Natural Resources Committee marked up and passed the Fix our Forests Act (FOFA-H.R. 8790), legislation that would expedite forest harvesting/management projects on federal lands. The bill was reported out of committee on a bipartisan voice vote.

Finding the sweet spot in this issue space has proven daunting for decades. Environmental groups generally oppose any harvesting of timber on federal lands. However, trained foresters, the U.S. Forest Service, communities surrounding federal forests and the wood building products sector know that managing forest stands is critical not only for forest health. Not only does managing timber stands head -off disease and insect infestation, but it prevents catastrophic wildfire.

The bill streamlines NEPA—the National Environmental Protection Act—that requires exhaustive environmental impact reviews of any forest thinning project on federal forestlands. At the centerpiece of FOFA is expanding what are known as Categorical Exclusions or CEs from NEPA. CEs permit forest projects to proceed on a streamlined basis with limited review but are limited to projects 3000 acres in size or less. FOFA would expand CEs to projects up to 10,000 acres in size.

The bill also includes language to create markets for low-grade timber and other provisions aimed at making our federal forests more resilient.

The path forward for this bill is uncertain. There are similar provisions in the House version of Farm Bill reauthorizing legislation. As we noted last week, the number of days Members of Congress are actually here in Washington is dwindling. Nonetheless, ABMA is following this bill closely and we will keep you apprised of developments.