Press Releases

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Dan Newhouse (WA-04), Executive Vice Chair Doug LaMalfa (CA-01), and Vice Chair Tom Tiffany (WI-07) introduced legislation to nullify President Biden’s Executive Order 14072 and prevent the U.S. Forest Service from finalizing the Old-Growth Amendment Plan’s draft Environmental Impact Statement.

“Forest management activities should be spearheaded at the regional level, not decided from some top-down plan that was crafted by a DC bureaucrat that has never set foot in the forest in question,” said Executive Vice Chair LaMalfa. “Regional voices should be prioritized, not ignored, and DC bureaucrats have proven time and time again that they are not willing to authorize the work needed to manage our forests and reduce wildfire risk, such as thinning projects and timber harvesting. We must block the Biden Administration’s irresponsible new plan that will tie the hands of those on the ground who are actively combatting this wildfire crisis.”

“The proposed Old-Growth Plan Amendment is out of touch with the needs of rural America. By limiting timber harvesting and proper forest management, the risk of catastrophic wildfires increases,” said Chairman Newhouse. “I’m proud to join Western Caucus Executive Vice Chair LaMalfa on this important legislation to overturn this attack on common sense forest management and to ensure forest managers have access to the tools needed to do their jobs.”

“Local land managers are the best stewards of the land—not bureaucrats a thousand miles away in Washington, D.C. The Biden administration's Old-Growth Plan Amendment imposes a one-size-fits-all approach that sidelines local expertise and makes it harder to maintain forest health,” said Vice Chair Tiffany. “This much-needed bill will block this misguided policy and ensure active wildfire mitigation.”

Background:

The U.S. Department of Agriculture initiated a scoping period for a proposed amendment to all 128 plans across the National Forest System in December 2023.

The comment period for this scoping period closed on February 2, 2024; the Forest Service evaluated comments from the scoping and drafted an environmental impact statement (EIS) highlighting a preferred alternative.

The draft EIS was published in the Federal Register on June 21, 2024, with an accompanying 90-day public comment period.

A final EIS and record of decision for the amendment to all 128 National Forest system plans is expected at the end of 2024/beginning of 2025.

Full text of the bill can be found here.