America’s national forests were birthed in Wyoming in 1891, with the establishment of the Shoshone National Forest.
At the 21st century’s quarter mark, however, our nation’s cherished forests are struggling.
In 2024, Wyoming experienced its second-worst wildfire season on record, as more than 800,000 acres of forests were turned to ash.
Nearly 20 percent of Wyoming’s public forests are at high or very high risk of a catastrophic wildfire, according to the Forest Service. Unless we do something, we can expect more years like 2024.
We know how to fix this problem: mechanical thinning to remove excess fuels followed by regular use of prescribed fire and grazing to keep fuels in check. Yet it doesn’t happen.
A study by researchers at the University of California-Davis and the Property and Environment Research Center found that the Forest Service treats only one percent of its land in Wyoming each year.
Fortunately, Congress is on the cusp of passing bipartisan legislation to change that.
The Fix Our Forests Act (FOFA) would prioritize forest management in the areas that need it most, reduce red tape and the delays it causes, and discourage frivolous lawsuits that hamstring forest managers.
It would do so by directing the Forest Service to identify high-risk firesheds and use emergency procedures to thin them, by streamlining environmental reviews for collaborative restoration projects under 10,000 acres, by removing redundant Endangered Species Act reviews that threaten species habitat, and by requiring a strategy to use targeted grazing to manage fuels.
These simple, common-sense ideas have drawn remarkable and diverse support. FOFA has been endorsed by the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the American Farm Bureau Federation, The Nature Conservancy, National Association of State Foresters, and many others, all of whom recognize that we can’t let red tape stop us from addressing the wildfire crisis.
Wyoming’s leaders have long called for reform to ramp up forest management.
Gov. Gordon has called expanded forest management “an essential solution to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires that impact Wyoming's communities, natural resources, and watersheds.”
Earlier this year, Sen. Barrasso observed that “over one-third of the country’s National Forest lands are at risk of destruction and devastation due to catastrophic wildfires. As long as we lack proper forest management, we will continue to see costly tragedies like we’ve seen in California and Wyoming.”
Rep. Hageman cosponsored FOFA in the House, where it quickly passed by a 279-141 vote in January.
It was introduced in the Senate in April and was recently voted out of committee, again by an overwhelming bipartisan vote.
We encourage Sen. Barrasso to promptly bring FOFA before the full Senate so that it can be sent to the President’s desk in time to avoid another catastrophic wildfire year in 2026.
Jim Magagna is the executive vice president of the Wyoming Stock Growers Association. Travis Brammer is the director of conservation at the Property and Environment Research Center.
