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119-hr-8688119th Congress

Forest Health and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act

Sponsored By: Representative Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3]

In Committee

Summary

Exempts small, targeted tree-thinning and fuels-reduction projects on Bureau of Land Management lands from full National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review to speed up hazardous-fuels work while setting tight limits and protections. It would let managers use a categorical exclusion for projects under 5,000 acres and allow limited road building while excluding large clearcuts or conversions to non-forest.

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  • BLM land managers would be able to approve small tree-density modification projects more quickly by using a categorical exclusion under NEPA. The exclusion applies only when a treatment area is less than 5,000 acres.
  • Contractors and crews that do thinning, chipping, pile burning, underburning, seeding, or planting could complete more projects with up to 5 miles of new permanent road allowed and temporary roads capped at 2.5 miles per 1,000 acres.
  • Resource protections and limits are required in the exclusion documentation, including retention targets for snags and downed wood, erosion-control and soil compaction measures, riparian buffers, invasive-species controls, and constraints on prescribed fire. Group-selection cuts are limited to 2-acre patches and no more than 10 percent of a treatment area.

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Bill Overview

Analyzed Economic Effects

1 provisions identified: 1 benefits, 0 costs, 0 mixed.

Faster tree thinning on BLM lands

If enacted, this bill would let the Bureau of Land Management skip full NEPA studies for certain tree-thinning projects under 5,000 acres. Covered work would include cutting and hauling trees, chipping or removing slash, small group-selection openings (no more than 2-acre patches and 10% of the area), pile burning or underburning, and seeding or planting to restore native species. The bill would allow up to 5 miles of new permanent road construction (only if land-use plans allow it) and temporary roads up to 2.5 miles per 1,000 acres if they are authorized, built to erosion and safety standards, and decommissioned after use. The exclusion would not apply to whole-stand regeneration like clearcutting or projects that convert forests to non-forest. Agencies would have to document design features and say how they will protect snags and downed wood, control erosion and soil compaction, limit invasive species, protect riparian areas, constrain prescribed burns, and decommission temporary roads.

Sponsors & CoSponsors

Sponsor

Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3]

CO • R

Cosponsors

  • Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4]

    WA • R

    Sponsored 5/7/2026

  • Rep. Edwards, Chuck [R-NC-11]

    NC • R

    Sponsored 5/12/2026

  • Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17]

    NY • R

    Sponsored 5/12/2026

Roll Call Votes

No roll call votes available for this bill.

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