PRESS STATEMENT: Dem Senators Introduce Logging Bill That Would Hand Over Keys to National Forests to Trump Administration

Fix Our Forests Act would open the door to widespread logging and undermine environmental laws

Standing Trees' members and allies survey the destruction caused by a recent clearcut in the White Mountain National Forest. Cuts like this one will become even more widespread with passage of the Fix Our Forests Act. Photo: Zack Porter.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

April 11, 2025

MEDIA CONTACTS

Becca Bowe, Earthjustice, rbowe@earthjustice.org

Zack Porter, Standing Trees, zporter@standingtrees.org, 802-552-0160

Randi Spivak, Center for Biological Diversity, rspivak@biologicaldiversity.org

WASHINGTON, DC— Today, Senators John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.) and Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA). In a giveaway to the timber industry, the bill – which is presented as a measure against wildfire – could open the door to unlimited logging across millions of acres of national forests, undermining bedrock environmental and public health laws. House Natural Resources Committee Chair Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and Rep. Scott Peters (D-Calif.) introduced companion legislation that passed the House in January 2025.

The Senate version of FOFA arrived less than a week after President Trump’s Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Rollins, issued a memo that begins implementation of President Trump’s March 1 executive order to ramp up logging across over half of national forests. FOFA and Trump’s logging directives would both serve to erode environmental laws and make it harder for members of the public to weigh in on government decisions, all of which could devastate forest health.

If passed, FOFA would allow logging to move forward on federal lands without scientific review and community input. The bill truncates ESA consultation requirements to protect threatened and endangered species and limits the right of citizens to judicial review, effectively barring communities from bringing lawsuits to hold federal agencies accountable.

Both FOFA and the Trump administration’s recent actions call for changes in forest management that could ultimately worsen the risk of fire. The executive order seeks to increase timber targets, which would focus limited Forest Service staff on meeting commercial timber amounts rather than taking appropriate measures to reduce wildfire risk. These directives would also facilitate the removal of large old-growth trees that are naturally more fire resilient. More logging will exacerbate the underlying causes of severe wildfire blazes - namely, dry forest conditions, caused by rising temperatures and a lack of precipitation due to climate change.

The following is a statement from Earthjustice, Oregon Wild, Standing Trees, and the Center for Biological Diversity, groups in the Climate Forests Coalition.

“Whether we are talking about the Fix Our Forests Act or President Trump’s executive order on forests, we are talking about an attack on our national public lands. This Senate bill could open the door to unlimited logging of forests owned and cherished by all Americans. Cutting down our old-growth and mature trees will ultimately worsen climate change. Rather than handing the keys to the Trump administration to unleash a logging bonanza, Senators should propose an alternative bill focused on supporting sensible wildfire mitigation strategies such as home hardening, local emergency planning, and defensible space.”

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