Washington,
June 2, 2025
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Eli Mansour
((202) 510-8612)
Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Doug LaMalfa (CA-01) introduced the Locally Led Restoration Act. This bill encourages healthy forests to reduce wildfire fuels on Federal lands by allowing public and private entities to enter into agreements with Federal agencies to manage forests.
“As wildfire season enters its peak, Congress must take decisive action to minimize and prevent these calamities,” said Chairman LaMalfa. “The Locally Led Restoration Act increases the role of local level public and private organizations, who have much better knowledge of their own land than the Federal government ever could. Active management through local action is key to limiting the catastrophic fires that wreak destruction across rural America and the West. I encourage my Western Caucus colleagues to join me in supporting this critical proposal.”
Joining Chairman LaMalfa in co-sponsoring the Locally Led Restoration Act are Representatives Buddy Carter (GA-01) and Jim Costa (CA-21).
Background:
This bill amends the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 to allow public and private entities to enter into stewardship contracts with the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) if the goals of a project include the removal of vegetation and at least 10 percent of the vegetation proposed to be removed is “salvage,” meaning wildfire kill, beetle kill, and dead or dying organic material.
The bill would also amend the National Forest Management Act of 1976 to increase the minimum threshold for competitive bid timber sales with appraised timber value to $55,000, from $10,000, with the amount to be adjusted annually by the Secretary of Agriculture to account for inflation.
