# 119-hr-8688: Forest Health and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act

119-hr-8688, Forest Health and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3] (R-CO); status in_committee (as of 2026-09-21).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8688
- As of: 2026-09-21
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8688
- Congress: 119
- Title: Forest Health and Wildfire Risk Reduction Act
- Status: in_committee
- Introduced: 2026-05-07
- Sponsor: Rep. Hurd, Jeff [R-CO-3] (R-CO)
- Cosponsors: 3
- Policy area: Environmental Protection
- Touches household money: no
- Last recorded action: 2026-09-21

## 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. - 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.

## Cosponsors (3)

- Rep. Newhouse, Dan [R-WA-4] (R-WA), 2026-05-07T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Edwards, Chuck [R-NC-11] (R-NC), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Lawler, Michael [R-NY-17] (R-NY), 2026-05-12T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Faster tree thinning on BLM lands: benefit, medium. 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 are…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act
- 119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act

## Sources
- [119-hr-8688 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8688)

## Related
- [119-hr-9237: Take Care of America’s Veterans Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9237)
- [119-hr-4669: FEMA Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4669)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-3151: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-3151)
- [119-hr-2548: Sanctioning Russia Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-2548)
- [119-hr-1262: Mikaela Naylon Give Kids a Chance Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1262)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8688 (as of 2026-09-21).