I’m new here—what is the Fix Our Forests Act?

The Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) protects lives, livelihoods, and lands by reducing wildfire risk, strengthening local economies, and ensuring science-based forest restoration. The bill protects:

• America’s forests by supporting time-tested tools, like prescribed fire and reforestation, that make our forests healthy and able to better withstand and recover from severe wildfire and other extreme weather.
• Communities across the nation by reducing wildfire risks to people, homes, and water supplies and adopting new technologies.
• Livelihoods by supporting rural jobs and recreation areas and sustaining the forests that house and feed us.

Tell me more.

We got you! Diving deeper, the bill includes provisions to increase resiliency to catastrophic wildfires, restore forest health, and build fire-safety defenses for communities in high-risk areas.

Specifically, the bill:

• Simplifies and expedites the most critical forest management projects while maintaining strong environmental standards (e.g. eliminating redundant agency consultations)
• Reduces delays to these critical actions due to litigation over insignificant impacts
• Fosters community input early and often, adding new ways for communities to weigh in on planning and implementation
• Boosts the pace and scale of forest management, by providing agencies with emergency tools
• Invests in innovative fire detection, suppressant technologies, modernizing construction standards
• Creates an interagency Fireshed Center, for targeted treatment of high-risk areas with plenty of state and local involvement

Who supports FOFA?

CCL supports this bill alongside many organizations including The National Congress of American Indians, American Forests, The Nature Conservancy, Environmental Defense Fund, National Audubon Society, The Western Fire Chiefs Association, The Federation of American Scientists and more.

Why was the Fix Our Forests Act introduced?

American forests currently offset 12% of our annual climate pollution, with the potential to do even more. But wildfires are getting worse. In the U.S., the wildfire area burned has more than doubled over the past 30 years. In California alone, the acreage burned by wildfires every year has more than tripled over the past 40 years. We need to take action so forests can keep doing their important work pulling climate pollution out of the atmosphere.

Will Congress listen to me?

Yes! The idea that elected representatives don’t listen to their constituents is not true. In reality, congressional staffers take every call and voicemail and read every email their office receives and pass these onto their member of Congress in regular briefings. Congress works for you, and they want to know what their constituents care about. You may receive a generic email in response, but your message was still received loud and clear.

How else can I help?

You only need to email your senators one time each using our tool.  Then, share this page with any friends, family and coworkers who want to help!