The Payson Roundup’s characterization of efforts in the U.S. House to fix fire borrowing and expedite certain forest projects are simply not true. The Resilient Federal Forests Act gives the Forest Service new categorical exclusions to expedite treatments on forests that are at immediate risk of catastrophic wildfire, insects and disease. A categorical exclusion is something that already exists under the National Environmental Policy Act. It is nothing new, is commonly used for infrastructure and public lands projects (including forestry), and has been proposed by Republicans and Democrats in both houses of Congress to increase the pace and scale of forest management. The bill does not mandate logging or any specific management activity. A forest project under the bill may use a number of tools — such as mechanized thinning and prescribed fire — that are appropriate to a given landscape, supported by science, and consistent with the existing forest plan.