168 million acres of America’s forests reportedly burned from 2002-2024, with little replanted; nearly 1200 people died and over 145,000 structures were destroyed. The 2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act, signed into law by President Bush, was objected to by the Sierra Club and many other “environmental” groups wrongly claiming that it would “gut environmental protections.” The Obama/Biden Administration ignored it and instead enacted even more rigorous environmental review requirements with an emphasis on “climate adaptive strategies.” It took the burning down of the right zip codes with the recent destructive wildfires in Los Angeles to finally get Washington’s attention again. We need passage of the proposed “Fix Our Forests Act” that will reduce wildfire threat by thinning overcrowded forests; streamlining environmental reviews; restoring forest ecosystems; and reducing the massive greenhouse gas emissions from wildfire smoke that directly impacts health and the environment.
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