As the 2026 wildfire season burns toward a close having scorched more than 8.5 million acres across the United States, Congress is moving toward a final vote on the Fix Our Forests Act—a sweeping bipartisan bill that would significantly accelerate forest thinning and prescribed fire projects on public and tribal lands by reducing regulatory and litigation hurdles.

What the Bill Does

The Fix Our Forests Act aims to cut the time it takes to initiate forest management projects on federal and tribal lands. Currently, nonpartisan research cited by bill supporters indicates that full environmental review for mechanical fuel treatments takes an average of more than five years, and prescribed burn projects average more than seven years from planning to implementation.

The legislation would streamline that process, creating faster pathways for projects that forest managers and timber interests argue are essential to reducing the catastrophic fire risk that has grown from decades of fire suppression and fuel accumulation. The bill also targets permit reform to speed up controlled burn programs.

Bipartisan but Contested

The bill passed the House with notable cross-party support: roughly half of Democrats representing Western states voted in favor, compared to about a quarter of Democrats from other parts of the country. Republicans voted overwhelmingly for the measure.

However, the bill has exposed a significant rift within the environmental movement. Major organizations including the Sierra Club and the Center for Biological Diversity oppose the legislation, arguing that limiting environmental review and litigation will open the door to heavy logging under the guise of fuel reduction. They characterize the bill as a vehicle for the Trump administration’s timber agenda.

On the other side, the Nature Conservancy and other conservation groups have voiced support, citing the imminent and growing threat of catastrophic fire to both communities and ecosystems. “Wildfires today are very different than wildfires from a generation ago,” said Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.), who co-introduced the Senate version. “Oftentimes, they’re irreversibly devastating ecosystems and watersheds.”

Western Senators Sound the Alarm on Firefighting Resources

Separate from the Fix Our Forests Act, a bipartisan group of senators including Michael Bennet (Colo.), John Hickenlooper (Colo.), Ron Wyden (Ore.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), and Adam Schiff (Calif.) sent a letter to the administration on September 10, 2026, raising alarms about inadequate firefighting resources during the 2026 season. The letter cited the record-breaking scope of fires across the West and called for additional investments in firefighting capacity, crew pay, and equipment.

Sen. Wyden’s involvement reflects Oregon’s particular stake in the debate. Oregon has been devastated by the 2026 fire season, with the Big Grass Fire alone burning more than 578,000 acres to become the largest wildfire in state history.

Funding Landscape

The FY2026 appropriations package included $2.65 billion for Interior-Environment wildfire suppression funding, with the Forest Service’s combined Wildland Fire Management account reaching $6.42 billion including discretionary cap adjustments. Whether those figures prove adequate given the 2026 season’s scope is a question that will shape the FY2027 appropriations debate now beginning in Congress.

The Fix Our Forests Act must pass the Senate before January 3, 2027, when the current Congress expires. Supporters and opponents alike are watching closely as Western legislators push for a vote before the session ends.