Sen. Curtis pushing forward with the Fix Our Forests Act

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

Sen. John Curtis is pushing forward with the Fix Our Forests Act after it passed a Senate committee with a bipartisan vote.
The act addresses wildfire crises by improving forest management and creating a Wildfire Intelligence Agency.
The act has support from multiple governors and organizations, including Utah Gov. Spencer Cox.

WASHINGTON — Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah, has thrown his muscle behind the Fix Our Forests Act, hailing passage of the legislation in the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry last week by a bipartisan vote of 18-5.

"In Utah and across the West, we face a growing crisis of overgrown, unhealthy forests. Thanks to the cooperation of both parties, we are confronting the challenge head‑on and are now one step closer to passing legislation that will deliver essential tools to combat wildfires, restore forest ecosystems, and make federal forest management more efficient and responsive," Curtis said. "I commend the committee's action and look forward to the bill's swift passage by the full Senate."

A statement by Curtis' office said the American West has long been prone to wildfires, but prolonged drought and the buildup of dry fuels have increasingly intensified these fires and extended fire seasons.

Wildfires today are more catastrophic — growing larger, spreading faster and burning more land than ever before. Nationwide, total acres burned rose from 2.7 million in 2023 to nearly 9 million in 2024, a 231% increase.

This year, as an example, Utah has experienced 1,114 wildfires that have burned 167,707 acres. The majority of those have been human-caused.

"There is a wildfire crisis across much of the country – our communities need action now," said Sen. John Hickenlooper, D-Colo. "Wildfires won't wait. After bipartisan committee passage, the next step is a full Senate vote. The Fix Our Forests Act will make our communities and environment more resilient."

Utah is developing a strategy to counter the wildfire risk in the Wasatch Canyons, assessing the vulnerable areas and coming up with a proactive approach for one of the most heavily used recreation areas in the state.

A team of state forestry experts is surveying the density of conifers, the scattering of aspen stands, the fallen and rotting trees and the underbrush that crowds this jewel called Big Cottonwood Canyon.

It is important to make this area more immune to catastrophic wildfires, especially given a new agreement recently inked involving the Cardiff Canyon Owners Association, the Wasatch-Uinta-Cache National Forest and the Wasatch Backcountry Alliance.

The state Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands says the risks are tremendous and cites the factors that make it so dangerous.

Desire to live in a secluded area surrounded by natural vegetation without defensible space
Homes are built of flammable materials (wood siding, shakes and patios).
Fire equipment is hampered from protecting an area because of long, narrow, winding, or steep driveways
Distance from fire departments

The Fix Our Forests Act aims to reduce those vulnerabilities in a number of ways, something that is critical.

"The status quo around wildfires isn't working and far too many Americans have paid the price," said Sen. Alex Padilla, D-Calif.

"The families I've met who have lost everything to the devastation in Los Angeles and in wildfire disasters across the country deserve action. That's why we're coming together to confront this crisis and rethink how we prevent and respond. Today's advancement of our bipartisan bill is real progress toward protecting Americans and our environment through forward-thinking, practical wildfire solutions."

Specifically, the act would create a single agency program to help communities in the wildland urban interface, streamline and expand tools for forest health projects, and strengthen and coordinate efforts among firefighting agencies through the creation of a new Wildfire Intelligence Agency.

Additionally, it would improve reforestation, increase seedling supply and nursery capacity.

The legislation has the support of Utah Gov. Spencer Cox, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Colorado Gov. Jared Polis, Montana Gov. Greg Gianforte, the Western Governors' Association and The Nature Conservancy, as well as multiple other entities.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.