Senate Advances Bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act

October 21, 2025 – The U.S. Senate advanced the Fix Our Forests Act through the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, setting the pivotal fire and forestry legislation up for a vote by the full Senate. The bipartisan legislation would help combat catastrophic wildfires, restore forest ecosystems, and make federal forest management more efficient. The Fix Our Forests Act would:

• Establish new and updated cross-jurisdictional programs to reduce wildfire risks across large, high-priority areas. 

• Streamline and expand tools for forest health projects (e.g., stewardship contracting, Good Neighbor Agreements) and provide faster processes for certain hazardous fuels treatments.

• Create a single interagency program to help communities in the wildland-urban interface build and retrofit with wildfire-resistant measures, while simplifying and consolidating grant applications.

• Expand research and demonstration initiatives — including biochar projects and the Community Wildfire Defense Research Program — to test and deploy cutting-edge wildfire prevention, detection, and mitigation technologies.

• Strengthen coordination efforts across agencies through a new Wildfire Intelligence Center which would streamline the federal response and create a whole-of-government approach to combating wildfires.

• Create fire safe electrical corridors by allowing electric utilities with permits or easements on National Forest System or BLM land to cut and remove vegetation near power lines without requiring a separate timber sale.

• Improve reforestation, seedling supply, and nursery capacity; as well as clarify policies to reduce wildfire-related litigation and expedite forest health treatments.