{"bills":[{"photos":{"featured":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2647-114/featured_emergency-wildfire-and-forest-management-act-of-2016-1485894964.jpg","featured_large":"https://assets.causes.com/bill/photo/hr2647-114/featured_large_emergency-wildfire-and-forest-management-act-of-2016-1485894964.jpg","shareable":"https://n.causes.com/share-images/bills/hr2647-114.png"},"introduced_on":"2015-06-04","title_override":"Does the Dept. of the Interior Need More Flexibility to Manage Wildfire Threats?","summary_override":"

In hopes of reducing the threat of wildfires, this bill would change the way federal forests are managed, and aims to improve the overall health and biodiversity of the forests.

This bill hopes to streamline the process for maintaining forests before catastrophic fires, and restoring them afterwards. For example, the bill doesn't create any new mapping, planning, rule-making, or reporting requirements for forest management agencies.

To speed things up, categorical exclusions (exemptions from environmental impact statements or assessments) would be available to the Forest Service for activities that:

Reduce the amount of hazardous fuel (like dry brush) available for fires;
Protect a municipal water source;
Address insect or disease infestations;
Protect critical habitat from natural catastrophes;
Increase the water yield.

Categorical exclusions would be limited to 5,000 acres. However, they could cover up to 15,000 acres if developed collaboratively, proposed by a resource advisory committee, or are covered by a community wildfire protection plan.

After a catastrophic event, the Forest Service would be able to quickly remove dead trees. This, in turn, would pay for reforestation and rehabilitation, which includes the planting of trees, surveying natural regeneration, clearing vegetation around seedling, and other activities.

This legislation allows states that wish to establish “revolving funds” accounts to manage their national forests to do so, as states like Montana, New Mexico, and Oregon had experienced difficulty doing so previously.

To bolster cooperation between various groups, environmental groups, timber companies, local stakeholders, and wildlife groups — among others — would participate in the planning and implementation of collaborative projects.

Existing environmental reviews would be maintained, though their requirements for project planning times and the costs of implementing forest management projects would be reduced.

Legal challenges against collaborative forest management projects would require a bond in order to proceed, which prevents frivolous challenges from indefinitely delaying projects and increasing costs.

When deciding on collaborative forest management activities, the Secretary of the Interior (DOI) could only consider two alternatives — the proposed activity or doing nothing. When assessing the option of doing nothing, considerations would include forest health, habitat diversity, the potential for wildfire, insect and disease infestation, and impacts on community water systems.

","official_title":"To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and improve forest management activities on National Forest System lands, on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and on tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested lands, and for other purposes.","short_title":"Emergency Wildfire and Forest Management Act of 2016","popular_title":null,"short_summary":"Emergency Wildfire and Forest Management Act of 2016\n\nTITLE I--MAJOR DISASTER FOR WILDFIRE ON FEDERAL LAND\n\n (Sec. 101) The Robert T. Stafford Disaster Relief and Emergency Assistance Act is amended to define \"major disaster for wildfire on federal lands\" to mean any wildfire or wildfires that warrant assistance to supplement the efforts and resources of the Department of the Interior or the Department of Agriculture (USDA) on federal lands or on nonfederal lands pursuant to a fire protection agreement or cooperative agreement.\n\n (Sec. 102) A process is established for declaration of a major disaster for wildfire on federal lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service. Either Interior (for federal land under its jurisdiction) or USDA (for Forest Service land) may request the President to start such a process, and the President in turn may transfer funds to them to...","summarized":true,"cost":10000000,"cost_commentary":"The CBO estimates that this bill would cost $10 million over the 2016-2020 period — or about $2 million per year.","impact":"Residents of areas affected by wildfires and visitors to the area, groups participating in forest management projects, the Dept. of the Interior, and the Secretary of the Interior.","argument_for":"Wildfires are a major economic and environmental threat to national forests. Giving forest management agencies more flexibility while getting help from community partners and businesses can only improve the status quo.","argument_against":"Trying to protect national forests from wildfires is a worthwhile goal, but it requires additional funding — which this bill doesn’t provide. 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Erick

Does the Dept. of the Interior Need More Flexibility to Manage Wildfire Threats?