# H.R. 471 (119th): Fix Our Forests Act

Fix Our Forests Act This bill establishes requirements for managing forests on federal land, including requirements concerning reducing wildfire threats, expediting the review of certain forest management projects, and implementing forest management projects and other activities. Specifically, the bill (1) designates certain firesheds at high risk for wildfires as fireshed management areas; (2) directs the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey to jointly establish an interagency Fireshed Center that is responsible for duties related to assessing and predicting fire, including maintaining a fireshed registry on a publicly accessible website that provides interactive geospatial data on individual firesheds; and (3) makes other requirements related to reducing wildfire. Next, the bill expedites the review of certain forest management projects under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969 and exempts certain activities from NEPA review. It also establishes intra-agency strike teams to accelerate the review and any interagency consultation processes under NEPA, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the National Historic Preservation Act. It also limits consultation requirements concerning threatened and endangered species under the Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 and the Federal Land Management and Policy Act of 1976. Finally, it limits litigation involving fireshed management projects and limits remedies that courts may provide. Additionally, the bill supports reducing community wildfire risks, carrying out forest restoration and stewardship activities (including watershed protection and restoration), conducting biochar demonstration projects, advancing technologies to address forest wildfires, and assisting wildland firefighters and their families.

## How this bill is scored

Tier: no Tier 1 record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Lane: environmental_review. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: environmental_stewardship. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: forest_management. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: judicial_review_limits. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Lane: wildfire_mitigation. Category: not stored. Lane tag: not stored.
Tier 1 sign-off: no record. A bill with no record cannot newly become Tier 1.
Stored polarity: mixed. Only tags the rules mark scoreable on a mixed bill are scored. A yea can draw a penalty or a credit according to the tag. A nay on a tag scored as good can draw a penalty.
Roll 25: On Passage. Vote type: final_passage.
Polarity rationale: Reviewed enrichment (llm_import) polarity: The bill combines real stewardship and public-safety goods, including wildfire mitigation, restoration, watershed protection, and firefighter support, with prudential concerns about accelerated environmental review, narrowed ESA consultation, and limits on litigation and court remedies. It does not directly advance a named moral evil, and it does not clearly restrain one, so mixed is the prudent classification.
Theological note: Scripture calls humanity to faithful stewardship of creation (Genesis 2:15), and protecting forests, watersheds, and communities from catastrophic fire fits that calling. The issue also raises questions of general equity: streamlined review and narrowed judicial remedies can weaken checks on decisions that affect endangered species, historic sites, and affected communities. These are prudential governance tradeoffs with real stakes on both sides, not a clear moral verdict on the bill.

## Recorded votes

Roll 25: On Passage. Yea 279 · Nay 141 · Other 13.

HTML: https://justmeasure.org/bill/hr-471-119/