House GOP Sees Smooth Sailing for Forest Management Bill

By Iulia Gheorghiu
The Hill
October 31, 2017
Category: Forestry
Region: United States

Bruce Westerman

House Republicans expect to pass a bipartisan bill tackling forest resilience on Wednesday, with further action likely in the Senate, as California’s wildfires add urgency to finding a comprehensive solution. But many Democrats, and almost half of California’s delegation in the House, support competing legislation, which has more than four times as many co-sponsors, that’s focused solely on funding and doesn’t try to roll back environmental regulations that limit logging. The bill introduced by Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) that’s scheduled for a Wednesday floor vote would reduce the risk of wildfire by offering different options to the U.S. Forest Service to fund fire suppression, without changing funding levels, and by creating access for loggers to thin overgrown forests.

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