America’s national forests need our help. Our public lands are burning at an alarming rate and need forest management to reduce the risks of devastating wildfire, insect infestations and disease. In 2020 alone, over 4.9 million acres burned on U.S. Forest Service-protected lands. That’s nearly the size of Delaware and Connecticut, combined.

To protect our communities, wildlife habitat, recreation, clean air and water, the federal government must allow its professional land managers to do their jobs. Help is on the way. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has proposed a new rule that will limit frivolous lawsuits that seek to block projects designed to reduce the risks to our forests.

What does this new rule do? It provides relief from harmful anti-forestry lawsuits that have blocked efforts to thin overstocked forests and reduce fuels that are contributing to these devastating fires. This solution is bipartisan. It reflects efforts by both Democratic and Republican administrations and members of the U.S. Congress to resolve lawsuits over duplicative interagency consultation procedures that have prevented work from being done on public lands.

Public comments on the rule are due by February 11.


--Staff Reports

Post Date: 2021-02-02 10:36:24