Steve Daines

A draft bill proposing wide changes to public forest management includes a provision by Sen. Steve Daines overturning a federal court ruling on endangered species habitat. Daines, R-Mont., discussed the Wildfire Prevention and Mitigation Act of 2017 at a Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing on Wednesday. The full bill, by Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., hasn’t been formally introduced yet. “We have had one of the most devastating fire seasons this year across the West and in Montana,” Daines wrote in an email. “We need forest management reform now to reduce the severity and intensity of wildfires and create more good-paying jobs.”