A House Natural Resources subcommittee will resume the conversation this week about legislation to use forest management to reduce the risk of wildfires.
The Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations holds a hearing on the “Fix Our Forests Act,” H.R. 471, which would step up thinning and related work, which sponsors say is key to preventing the worst wildfires.
The legislation passed the House in January. A companion bill was recently introduced in the Senate and received support from the Forest Service at a hearing last week.
Subcommittee Chair Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) has blamed “forest-rabid environmentalists” for standing in the way of forest management projects that could reduce wildfires, although the organizations say logging sometimes makes forests even more susceptible.
