I 
118TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 8790 
To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 and im-
prove forest management activities on National Forest System lands, 
on public lands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment, and on Tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone 
forested lands, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JUNE 18, 2024 
Mr. WESTERMAN (for himself, Mr. PETERS, Mr. TIFFANY, Mr. PANETTA, Mr. 
STAUBER, Mr. COSTA, Mr. MCCLINTOCK, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Mr. CURTIS, 
Mr. BERA, Mr. DUARTE, Mr. MOYLAN, and Mr. GOSAR) introduced the 
following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, 
and in addition to the Committees on Agriculture, and Science, Space, 
and Technology, for a period to be subsequently determined by the 
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within 
the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 
A BILL 
To expedite under the National Environmental Policy Act 
of 1969 and improve forest management activities on 
National Forest System lands, on public lands under 
the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, 
and on Tribal lands to return resilience to overgrown, 
fire-prone forested lands, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
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SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE; TABLE OF CONTENTS. 
(a) SHORT TITLE.—This Act may be cited as the 
‘‘Fix Our Forests Act’’. 
(b) TABLE OF CONTENTS.—The table of contents for 
this Act is as follows: 
Sec. 1. Short title; table of contents. 
Sec. 2. Definitions. 
TITLE I—LANDSCAPE-SCALE RESTORATION 
Subtitle A—Addressing Emergency Wildfire Risks in High Priority Firesheds 
Sec. 101. Designation of fireshed management areas. 
Sec. 102. Fireshed center. 
Sec. 103. Fireshed registry. 
Sec. 104. Shared stewardship. 
Sec. 105. Fireshed assessments. 
Sec. 106. Emergency fireshed management. 
Sec. 107. Sunset. 
Subtitle B—Expanding Collaborative Tools To Reduce Wildfire Risk and 
Improve Forest Health 
Sec. 111. Modification of the treatment of certain revenue and payments under 
good neighbor agreements. 
Sec. 112. Fixing stewardship end result contracting. 
Sec. 113. Intra-agency strike teams. 
Sec. 114. Locally-led restoration. 
Subtitle C—Litigation Reform 
Sec. 121. Commonsense litigation reform. 
Sec. 122. Consultation on forest plans. 
TITLE II—PROTECTING COMMUNITIES IN THE WILDLAND-URBAN 
INTERFACE 
Sec. 201. Community wildfire risk reduction program. 
Sec. 202. Community wildfire defense research program. 
Sec. 203. Vegetation management, facility inspection, and operation and main-
tenance relating to electric transmission and distribution facil-
ity rights-of-way. 
Sec. 204. Categorical exclusion for electric utility lines rights-of-way. 
Sec. 205. Seeds of success. 
TITLE III—TRANSPARENCY AND TECHNOLOGY 
Sec. 301. Biochar innovations and opportunities for conservation, health, and 
advancements in research. 
Sec. 302. Accurate hazardous fuels reduction reports. 
Sec. 303. Public-private wildfire technology deployment and testbed partner-
ship. 
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Sec. 304. GAO study on Forest Service policies. 
Sec. 305. Forest Service Western headquarters study. 
SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 
In this Act: 
(1) DIRECTOR.—The term ‘‘Director’’ means 
the Director of the Fireshed Center appointed under 
section 102. 
(2) FIRESHED.—The term ‘‘fireshed’’ means a 
landscape-scale area that faces similar wildfire 
threat where a response strategy could influence the 
wildfire outcome. 
(3) FIRESHED
MANAGEMENT
PROJECT.—The 
term ‘‘fireshed management project’’ means a 
project under section 106. 
(4) FIRESHED REGISTRY.—The term ‘‘Fireshed 
Registry’’ means the fireshed registry established 
under section 103. 
(5) FOREST
PLAN.—The term ‘‘forest plan’’ 
means— 
(A) a land use plan prepared by the Bu-
reau of Land Management for public lands pur-
suant to section 202 of the Federal Land Policy 
and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 
1712); 
(B) a land and resource management plan 
prepared by the Forest Service for a unit of the 
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National Forest System pursuant to section 6 
of the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Re-
sources Planning Act of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 
1604); or 
(C) a forest management plan (as defined 
in section 304 of the National Indian Forests 
Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3104)) 
with respect to Indian forest land or rangeland. 
(6) GOVERNOR.—The term ‘‘Governor’’ means 
the Governor or any other appropriate executive offi-
cial of an affected State or Indian tribe or the Com-
monwealth of Puerto Rico. 
(7) HAZARDOUS FUELS MANAGEMENT ACTIVI-
TIES.—The term ‘‘hazardous fuels management ac-
tivities’’ means any vegetation management activities 
(or combination thereof) that reduce the risk of 
wildfire, including mechanical thinning, mastication, 
prescribed burning, cultural burning (as determined 
by the applicable Indian Tribe), timber harvest, and 
grazing. 
(8) HFRA TERMS.—The terms ‘‘at-risk com-
munity’’, ‘‘community wildfire protection plan’’, and 
‘‘wildland-urban interface’’ have the meanings given 
such terms, respectively, in section 101 of the 
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Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (16 U.S.C. 
6511). 
(9) INDIAN FOREST LAND OR RANGELAND.— 
The term ‘‘Indian forest land or rangeland’’ means 
land that— 
(A) is held in trust by, or with a restriction 
against alienation by, the United States for an 
Indian Tribe or a member of an Indian Tribe; 
and 
(B)(i)(I) is Indian forest land (as defined 
in section 304 of the National Indian Forest 
Resources Management Act (25 U.S.C. 3103)); 
or 
(II) has a cover of grasses, 
brush, or any similar vegetation; or 
(ii) formerly had a forest cover or veg-
etative cover that is capable of restoration. 
(10) INDIAN TRIBE.—The term ‘‘Indian Tribe’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 4 of the 
Indian Self-Determination and Education Assistance 
Act (25 U.S.C. 5304). 
(11) NATIONAL FOREST SYSTEM LANDS.—The 
term ‘‘National Forest System lands’’ has the mean-
ing given the term in section 11(a) of the Forest 
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and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act 
of 1974 (16 U.S.C. 1609). 
(12) PUBLIC LANDS.—The term ‘‘public lands’’ 
has the meaning given that term in section 103 of 
the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 
1976 (43 U.S.C. 1702), except that the term in-
cludes Coos Bay Wagon Road Grant lands and Or-
egon and California Railroad Grant lands. 
(13) 
RELEVANT
CONGRESSIONAL
COMMIT-
TEES.—The term ‘‘relevant Congressional Commit-
tees’’ means— 
(A) the Committees on Natural Resources 
and Agriculture of the House of Representa-
tives; and 
(B) the Committees on Energy and Nat-
ural Resources and Agriculture, Nutrition, and 
Forestry of the Senate. 
(14) RESPONSIBLE OFFICIAL.—The term ‘‘re-
sponsible official’’ means an employee of the Depart-
ment of the Interior or Forest Service who has the 
authority to make and implement a decision on a 
proposed action. 
(15) SECRETARIES.—The term ‘‘Secretaries’’ 
means each of— 
(A) the Secretary of the Interior; and 
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(B) the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(16) 
SECRETARY.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary’’ 
means the Secretary of Agriculture. 
(17) 
SECRETARY
CONCERNED.—The 
term 
‘‘Secretary concerned’’ means— 
(A) the Secretary of Agriculture, with re-
spect to National Forest System lands; and 
(B) the Secretary of the Interior, with re-
spect to public lands. 
(18) STATE.—The term ‘‘State’’ means each of 
the several States, the District of Columbia, and 
each territory of the United States 
TITLE I—LANDSCAPE-SCALE 
RESTORATION 
Subtitle A—Addressing Emergency 
Wildfire Risks in High Priority 
Firesheds 
SEC. 
101. 
DESIGNATION 
OF 
FIRESHED 
MANAGEMENT 
AREAS. 
(a) DESIGNATION
OF
FIRESHED
MANAGEMENT 
AREAS.— 
(1) INITIAL DESIGNATIONS.—For the period be-
ginning on the date of enactment of this Act and 
ending on the date that is 5 years after the date of 
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enactment of this Act, there are designated fireshed 
management areas, which— 
(A) shall be comprised of individual land-
scape-scale firesheds identified as being a high 
risk fireshed in the ‘‘Wildfire Crisis Strategy’’ 
published by the Forest Service in January 
2022; 
(B) shall be comprised of individual land-
scape-scale firesheds identified by the Secretary, 
in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, as being in the top 20 percent of the 7,688 
firesheds published by the Rocky Mountain Re-
search Station of the Forest Service in 2019 for 
wildfire exposure based on the following cri-
teria— 
(i) 
wildfire 
exposure 
and 
cor-
responding risk to communities, including 
risk to structures and life; 
(ii) 
wildfire 
exposure 
and 
cor-
responding risk to municipal watersheds; 
and 
(iii) risk of forest conversion due to 
wildfire; 
(C) shall not overlap with any other 
fireshed management areas; 
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(D) may contain Federal and non-Federal 
land, including Indian forest lands or range-
lands; and 
(E) where the Secretary concerned shall 
carry out fireshed management projects. 
(2) FURTHER
FIRESHED
MANAGEMENT
AREA 
DESIGNATIONS.— 
(A) IN GENERAL.—On the date that is 5 
years after the date of the enactment of this 
Act and every 5 years thereafter, the Secretary, 
in consultation with the Secretary of the Inte-
rior, shall submit to the relevant Congressional 
Committees an updated map of firesheds based 
on the Fireshed Registry maintained under sec-
tion 103. 
(B) DESIGNATION.—Not later than 60 
days after submitting an updated fireshed map 
under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall, 
based on such map, designate additional 
fireshed management areas that are identified 
as being in the top 20 percent of firesheds at 
risk for wildfire exposure based on the criteria 
specified in subparagraphs (B), (C), (D), and 
(E) of paragraph (1). 
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(b) APPLICABILITY OF NEPA.—The designation of 
fireshed management areas under this section shall not 
be subject to the requirements of the National Environ-
mental Policy Act of 1969 (42 U.S.C. 4321 et seq.). 
SEC. 102. FIRESHED CENTER. 
(a) ESTABLISHMENT.— 
(1) 
IN
GENERAL.—The 
Secretary, 
acting 
through the Chief of the Forest Service and the Sec-
retary of the Interior, acting through the Director of 
the U.S. Geological Survey, shall jointly establish a 
Fireshed Center (hereinafter referred to as the 
‘‘Center’’) comprised of at least one career rep-
resentative from each of the following: 
(A) The Forest Service. 
(B) The Bureau of Land Management. 
(C) The National Park Service. 
(D) The Bureau of Indian Affairs. 
(E) The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. 
(F) The U.S. Geological Survey. 
(G) The Department of Defense. 
(H) The Department of Homeland Secu-
rity. 
(I) The Department of Energy. 
(J) The Federal Emergency Management 
Agency. 
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(K) The National Science Foundation. 
(L) The National Oceanic and Atmos-
pheric Administration. 
(M) The National Aeronautics and Space 
Administration. 
(N) The National Institute of Standards 
and Technology. 
(2) DIRECTOR.—The Secretary, acting through 
the Chief of the Forest Service and the Secretary of 
the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. 
Geological Survey, shall jointly appoint a Director of 
the Center, who— 
(A) shall be an employee of the U.S. Geo-
logical Survey or the Forest Service; 
(B) shall serve an initial term of not more 
than 7 years; and 
(C) may serve one additional term of not 
more than 7 years after the initial term de-
scribed in subparagraph (B). 
(3) ADDITIONAL REPRESENTATION.—The Sec-
retary, acting through the Chief of the Forest Serv-
ice and the Secretary of the Interior, acting through 
the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, may 
jointly appoint additional representatives of Federal 
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agencies to the Center, as the Secretaries determine 
necessary. 
(b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of the Center are to— 
(1) comprehensively assess and predict fire in 
the wildland and built environment interface through 
data aggregation and science-based decision support 
services; 
(2) reduce fragmentation and duplication across 
Federal land management agencies with respect to 
predictive service and decision support functions re-
lated to wildland fire; 
(3) promote interorganizational coordination 
and sharing of data regarding wildland fire decision 
making; 
(4) streamline procurement processes and cy-
bersecurity systems related to addressing wildland 
fire; 
(5) provide publicly accessible data, models, 
technologies, assessments, and fire weather forecasts 
to support short- and long-term planning regarding 
wildland fire and post-fire recovery; and 
(6) maintain the Fireshed Registry established 
under section 103. 
(c) MEMORANDAS OF UNDERSTANDING.—The Cen-
ter may enter into memorandums of understanding with 
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