Bipartisan legislation aimed at reducing the risk and severity of wildfires has gained significant momentum this week after the White House issued a rare statement endorsing the Fix Our Forests Act — a Senate-passed bill that would expand forest management, accelerate prescribed burning, and streamline environmental reviews of fuel-reduction projects. The endorsement came as smoke from Pacific Northwest fires drifted as far as Washington, D.C., making the fire crisis impossible for lawmakers to ignore.

White House Backs Bipartisan Bill

The White House Office of Management and Budget issued a statement of administration policy on August 10 indicating that President Trump's advisers would recommend he sign the bipartisan Senate bill if it reaches his desk. The administration framed the legislation as a deregulatory measure that would enable authorities to "actively manage our forests" to reduce fire risk — aligning it with the administration's broader regulatory posture.

The timing was significant. The statement came as fires in eastern Washington prompted evacuations of approximately 65,000 Spokane-area residents — a high-visibility disaster that accelerated congressional attention to the issue. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum and Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins both traveled to the Pacific Northwest and Idaho last week to assess fire damage firsthand.

What the Fix Our Forests Act Would Do

The legislation, led by a bipartisan coalition spearheaded by Utah Republican Sen. John Curtis, would:

  • Expand management zones where land managers can more aggressively conduct fuel-reduction activities.
  • Make it easier for agencies to conduct prescribed burns and forest-thinning projects.
  • Streamline National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) reviews for fire risk reduction projects, reducing the permitting timeline for treatments near communities.
  • Increase collaboration between federal, state, tribal, and local partners on proactive fire management.

Advocates are eyeing the annual National Defense Authorization Act as a vehicle to move the legislation when Congress returns from recess.

Parallel Executive Actions

The legislative push is running alongside significant executive branch actions. Agriculture Secretary Rollins recently initiated steps to repeal a 25-year-old rule that banned road construction and development on approximately 45 million acres of national forestland — the Clinton-era Roadless Rule. Rollins framed the move as necessary to facilitate logging and forest-thinning efforts that can reduce fire risk. Environmentalists have opposed the effort, and some lawmakers on both sides of the aisle have indicated a preference for a more durable legislative solution.

Earlier this spring, Interior Secretary Burgum directed land management agencies under his jurisdiction to adopt a "presumption of full suppression" strategy for every wildfire on DOI-managed lands. Agriculture Secretary Rollins issued a similar directive for USDA agencies, prioritizing initial attack, rapid response, and suppression over management-ignition techniques on most fires.

Budget Pressures and Staffing Concerns

Not all the policy news has been positive. The U.S. Forest Service shed more than 100 employees in Minnesota alone during earlier rounds of federal workforce reductions, and delayed $10 million in grant funding for wildfire mitigation in the Superior National Forest. Critics argue that workforce and budget cuts to land management agencies conflict directly with the administration's stated goal of more aggressive forest management and fire suppression.

As 2026 approaches or exceeds some of the worst fire seasons on record, the debate over how to fund, staff, and manage wildfire response — and prevention — is likely to intensify when Congress reconvenes in September.