II 

117TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 2436 

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to establish 

emergency fireshed management areas, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 22, 2021 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. BARRASSO, Mr. DAINES, and Mr. CRAPO) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources 

A BILL 

To amend the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 

to establish emergency fireshed management areas, and 

for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Forest Improvements 

5 through Research and Emergency Stewardship for 

6 Healthy Ecosystem Development and Sustainability Act’’ 

7 or the ‘‘FIRESHEDS Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 

2 Title VI of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 

3 2003 (16 U.S.C. 6591 et seq.) is amended by adding at 

4 the end the following: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 607. EMERGENCY FIRESHED MANAGEMENT. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) COLLABORATIVE PROCESS.—The term 

8 ‘collaborative process’ means a process relating to 

9 the management of National Forest System land or 

10 public land by which a project or forest management 

11 activity is developed and implemented by the Sec12 retary through collaboration with interested persons, 

13 as described in section 603(b)(1)(C). 

14 ‘‘(2) FIRESHED.—The term ‘fireshed’ means a 

15 landscape-scale area that faces a similar wildfire 

16 threat where a response strategy could influence the 

17 wildfire outcome. 

18 ‘‘(3) FOREST PLAN.—The term ‘forest plan’ 

19 means— 

20 ‘‘(A) a land use plan prepared by the Sec21 retary of the Interior, acting through the Direc22 tor of the Bureau of Land Management, for 

23 public land under section 202 of the Federal 

24 Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 

25 U.S.C. 1712); or 


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1 ‘‘(B) a land and resource management 

2 plan prepared by the Secretary of Agriculture, 

3 acting through the Chief of the Forest Service, 

4 for a unit of the National Forest System pursu5 ant to section 6 of the Forest and Rangeland 

6 Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (16 

7 U.S.C. 1604). 

8 ‘‘(4) HAZARDOUS FUELS MANAGEMENT.—The 

9 term ‘hazardous fuels management’ means any vege10 tation management activity that reduces the risk of 

11 wildfire, including mechanical treatments and live12 stock grazing. 

13 ‘‘(5) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM.—The term 

14 ‘National Forest System’ means national forest 

15 lands reserved or withdrawn from the public domain 

16 of the United States described in section 11(a) of 

17 the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources 

18 Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609(a)). 

19 ‘‘(6) PUBLIC LAND.— 

20 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘public land’ 

21 has the meaning given the term ‘public lands’ 

22 in section 103 of the Federal Land Policy and 

23 Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702). 


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1 ‘‘(B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘public land’ 

2 includes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant land and 

3 Oregon and California Railroad Grant land. 

4 ‘‘(7) RESOURCE ADVISORY COMMITTEE.—The 

5 term ‘resource advisory committee’ has the meaning 

6 given the term in section 201 of the Secure Rural 

7 Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 

8 2000 (16 U.S.C. 7121). 

9 ‘‘(8) SECRETARY.—The term ‘Secretary’ 

10 means— 

11 ‘‘(A) the Secretary of the Interior, with re12 spect to public land; and 

13 ‘‘(B) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re14 spect to National Forest System land. 

15 ‘‘(9) SECTION 101 TERMS.—The terms ‘at-risk 

16 community’, ‘community wildfire protection plan’, 

17 and ‘wildland-urban interface’ have the meanings 

18 given those terms in section 101. 

19 ‘‘(b) ESTABLISHMENT OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT

20 AREAS.— 

21 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

22 ‘‘(A) JOINT AGREEMENTS.—Not later than 

23 90 days after receiving a request from a Gov24 ernor of a State, the Secretary shall enter into 

25 an agreement with that Governor to jointly— 


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1 ‘‘(i) designate 1 or more fireshed 

2 management areas within that State; and 

3 ‘‘(ii) conduct fireshed management 

4 projects in accordance with subsection (d) 

5 in those fireshed management areas. 

6 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL FIRESHED MANAGE7 MENT AREAS.—With respect to an agreement 

8 with a Governor of a State under subparagraph 

9 (A), the Secretary, if requested by that Gov10 ernor, may— 

11 ‘‘(i) designate additional fireshed 

12 management areas under that agreement; 

13 and 

14 ‘‘(ii) update that agreement to ad15 dress new wildfire threats. 

16 ‘‘(C) SHARED STEWARDSHIP.—A pre17 viously signed stewardship agreement between a 

18 Governor of a State and the Secretary (or an 

19 update or successor agreement to such a stew20 ardship agreement) may be treated as an agree21 ment under subparagraph (A) if that Governor 

22 approves that treatment. 

23 ‘‘(2) DESIGNATION OF FIRESHED MANAGEMENT

24 AREAS.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A fireshed manage2 ment area designated under an agreement 

3 under paragraph (1)— 

4 ‘‘(i) shall be— 

5 ‘‘(I) a landscape-scale area; and 

6 ‘‘(II) identified on the date of 

7 that designation as a fireshed ranked 

8 in the top 10 percent of wildfire expo9 sure, as determined by the most re10 cently published models of fireshed 

11 risk exposure published by the Sec12 retary of Agriculture, acting through 

13 the Chief of the Forest Service; 

14 ‘‘(ii) may not overlap with any other 

15 fireshed management area; and 

16 ‘‘(iii) may contain Federal and non17 Federal land. 

18 ‘‘(B) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—The des19 ignation of a fireshed management area under 

20 an agreement under paragraph (1) shall not be 

21 subject to the requirements of the National En22 vironmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

23 4321 et seq.). 

24 ‘‘(c) STEWARDSHIP AND FIRESHED ASSESSMENTS.— 


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1 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days 

2 after entering into an agreement with a Governor of 

3 a State under subsection (b)(1), the Secretary and 

4 that Governor shall, with respect to the fireshed 

5 management areas designated under that agreement, 

6 jointly conduct a stewardship and fireshed assess7 ment that— 

8 ‘‘(A) identifies— 

9 ‘‘(i) using the best available data, 

10 wildfire exposure risks within each of those 

11 fireshed management areas, including sce12 nario planning and wildfire hazard map13 ping and models; and 

14 ‘‘(ii) each at-risk community within 

15 each fireshed management area; 

16 ‘‘(B) identifies potential fireshed manage17 ment projects to be carried out in those fireshed 

18 management areas, giving priority— 

19 ‘‘(i) primarily, to projects with the 

20 purpose of reducing threats to public 

21 health and safety from catastrophic wild22 fire; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) secondarily, to projects with the 

24 purpose of— 


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1 ‘‘(I) protecting critical infrastruc2 ture; 

3 ‘‘(II) protecting wildlife habitats; 

4 ‘‘(III) protecting watersheds or 

5 improving water yield; or 

6 ‘‘(IV) any combination of pur7 poses described in subclauses (I) 

8 through (III); 

9 ‘‘(C) includes— 

10 ‘‘(i) a strategy for reducing the threat 

11 of wildfire to at-risk communities in the 

12 wildland-urban interface; 

13 ‘‘(ii) recommended fireshed manage14 ment project size limitations based on the 

15 best available data; 

16 ‘‘(iii) a timeline for the implementa17 tion of fireshed management projects; and 

18 ‘‘(iv) long-term benchmark goals for 

19 the completion of fireshed management 

20 projects in the highest wildfire exposure 

21 areas; and 

22 ‘‘(D) shall be regularly updated based on 

23 the best available data, as determined by the 

24 Secretary. 

25 ‘‘(2) INFORMATION IMPROVEMENT.— 


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1 ‘‘(A) MEMORANDA OF UNDERSTANDING.— 

2 In carrying out a stewardship and fireshed as3 sessment under this subsection, the Secretary 

4 may enter into memoranda of understanding 

5 with other Federal agencies or departments, 

6 States, private entities, or research or edu7 cational institutions to improve, with respect to 

8 that assessment, the use and integration of— 

9 ‘‘(i) advanced remote sensing and 

10 geospatial technologies; 

11 ‘‘(ii) statistical modeling and analysis; 

12 or 

13 ‘‘(iii) any other technology the Sec14 retary determines will benefit the quality of 

15 information of that assessment. 

16 ‘‘(B) STATE INFORMATION.—To the max17 imum extent practicable, the Secretary shall in18 corporate data from State forest action plans, 

19 State wildfire risk assessments, and other State 

20 sources in conducting an assessment under 

21 paragraph (1). 

22 ‘‘(d) FIRESHED MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

24 out fireshed management projects in fireshed man25 agement areas designated under an agreement under 


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1 subsection (b)(1) in accordance with the timeline 

2 and project size limitations included in the steward3 ship and fireshed assessment relating to those areas 

4 under subsection (c)(1)(C). 

5 ‘‘(2) REQUIREMENTS.—A fireshed management 

6 project shall— 

7 ‘‘(A) be carried out— 

8 ‘‘(i) in accordance with paragraph (3); 

9 ‘‘(ii) in accordance with the applicable 

10 forest plan; and 

11 ‘‘(iii) in a manner that maximizes the 

12 retention of old-growth and large trees, to 

13 the extent that the trees promote stands 

14 that are resilient to wildfire; and 

15 ‘‘(B) be— 

16 ‘‘(i) developed through a collaborative 

17 process; 

18 ‘‘(ii) proposed by a resource advisory 

19 committee; 

20 ‘‘(iii) covered by a community wildfire 

21 protection plan; or 

22 ‘‘(iv) proposed by a resource advisory 

23 council described in subpart 1784 of part 

24 1700 of title 43, Code of Federal Regula25 tions (or successor regulations). 


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1 ‘‘(3) AUTHORIZED ACTIVITIES.—A fireshed 

2 management project shall have the primary purpose 

3 of— 

4 ‘‘(A) creating fuel breaks and fire breaks; 

5 ‘‘(B) conducting hazardous fuels manage6 ment; 

7 ‘‘(C) conducting prescribed burns; 

8 ‘‘(D) removing dead trees or dying trees; 

9 or 

10 ‘‘(E) carrying out any combination of the 

11 activities described in subparagraphs (A) 

12 through (D). 

13 ‘‘(4) CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION FOR FIRESHED

14 MANAGEMENT PROJECTS.—Fireshed management 

15 projects under this subsection shall be— 

16 ‘‘(A) considered an action categorically ex17 cluded from the preparation of an environ18 mental assessment or an environmental impact 

19 statement under section 102 of the National 

20 Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 

21 4332); and 

22 ‘‘(B) exempt from the special administra23 tive review process under section 105. 

24 ‘‘(5) EXCLUSIONS.—A fireshed management 

25 project may not be carried out on land— 


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1 ‘‘(A) that is included in the National Wil2 derness Preservation System; 

3 ‘‘(B) that is located within a national or 

4 State-specific inventoried roadless area estab5 lished by the Secretary of Agriculture through 

6 regulation, unless— 

7 ‘‘(i) the forest management activity to 

8 be carried out under that authority is con9 sistent with the forest plan applicable to 

10 the area; or 

11 ‘‘(ii) the activity is allowed under the 

12 applicable roadless area conservation rule 

13 governing that land, including— 

14 ‘‘(I) the Idaho roadless area con15 servation rule under subpart C of part 

16 294 of title 36, Code of Federal Regu17 lations; 

18 ‘‘(II) the Colorado roadless area 

19 conservation rule under subpart D of 

20 part 294 of title 36, Code of Federal 

21 Regulations; or 

22 ‘‘(III) any other roadless area 

23 conservation rule developed after the 

24 date of enactment of this section by 


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1 the Secretary with respect to a spe2 cific State; or 

3 ‘‘(C) on which timber harvesting for any 

4 purpose is prohibited by Federal statute. 

5 ‘‘(6) EFFECT RELATING TO CERTAIN ROADLESS

6 AREA CONSERVATION RULES.—Nothing in this sec7 tion affects the roadless area conservation rules de8 scribed in subclauses (I) and (II) of paragraph 

9 (5)(B)(ii). 

10 ‘‘(7) USE OF OTHER AUTHORITIES.—To the 

11 maximum extent practicable, the Secretary shall use 

12 existing statutory and administrative authorities, in13 cluding a good neighbor agreement entered into 

14 under section 8206 of the Agricultural Act of 2014 

15 (16 U.S.C. 2113a), to carry out each fireshed man16 agement project. 

17 ‘‘(e) JUDICIAL REVIEW.—Section 106 shall apply to 

18 a fireshed management project conducted under this sec19 tion in the same manner as that section applies to an au20 thorized hazardous fuel reduction project conducted under 

21 title I, except that no restraining order, preliminary in22 junction, or injunction pending appeal shall be issued by 

23 any court of the United States with respect to any decision 

24 to prepare or conduct a fireshed management project 

25 under this section in the wildland-urban interface. 


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1 ‘‘(f) REPORT.—Not later than 2 years after the date 

2 of enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the 

3 Secretary shall submit to Congress a report evaluating the 

4 progress and implementation of fireshed management 

5 projects under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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