Fix Our Forests Act

The Fix Our Forests Act aims to improve forest management on National Forest System land, public land under the Bureau of Land Management, and Tribal land to reduce wildfire risks and restore resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forests. It establishes new programs, modifies existing authorities, and promotes collaboration among federal, state, tribal, and local entities.

Sec. 2, Definitions: Defines key terms used in the Act, including 'end water user' and 'Executive Director' of the Wildland Fire Intelligence Center.

Title I, Subtitle A, Addressing Emergency Wildfire Risks in High-priority Firesheds: Designates initial fireshed management areas for a 5-year period, establishes a Wildland Fire Intelligence Center, creates a Fireshed Registry with interactive geospatial data, requires shared stewardship agreements with states and tribes, mandates fireshed assessments, authorizes emergency fireshed management projects, and orders a study on project impacts. The authority under this subtitle terminates after 7 years.

Title I, Subtitle B, Expanding Collaborative Tools to Reduce Wildfire Risk and Improve Forest Health: Modifies good neighbor agreements to include tribes and counties, fixes stewardship contracting to retain forest products infrastructure, establishes strike teams for project reviews, increases the local restoration contract limit from $10,000 to $55,000, expands the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership, updates the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program, develops a grazing strategy for wildfire risk reduction, amends the Water Source Protection Program, makes technical corrections to the Watershed Condition Framework, expands Tribal forest protection activities, establishes regional wildland fire research centers, authorizes contracts for ecosystem restoration, provides for reforestation of land destroyed by the Hermit's Peak/Calf Canyon Fire, and creates a contract preference for local contractors for hazardous fuel reduction projects.

Title I, Subtitle C, Litigation Reform: Defines agency documents and covered agency actions for fireshed management projects, and amends forest plan consultation requirements to eliminate additional consultation under certain circumstances.

Title I, Subtitle D, Prescribed Fire: Defines prescribed fire, adjusts training requirements for firefighters, limits liability for prescribed fire managers, ensures smoke management policies facilitate prescribed fire, authorizes cooperative agreements and contracts for prescribed fire, and requires the Forest Service to extinguish prescribed burns and update burn policies.

Title II, Subtitle A, Community Wildfire Risk Reduction: Establishes an interagency Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program, expands the Joint Fire Science Program into a Community Wildfire Defense Research Program, improves the community wildfire defense grant program, and updates the definition of 'at-risk community'.

Title II, Subtitle B, Vegetation Management, Reforestation, and Local Fire Risk Mitigation: Expands vegetation management for electric transmission rights-of-way, creates fire-safe electrical corridors, establishes a categorical exclusion for high-priority hazard trees, develops a Seeds of Success strategy for native seeds, supports priority reforestation and restoration projects, provides for reforestation nurseries and genetic resources, and establishes standard operating procedures for fire department repayment.

Title III, Subtitle A, Transparency and Technology: Defines biochar and authorizes related activities, requires accurate hazardous fuels reduction reports, establishes a public-private wildfire technology partnership, orders a GAO study on Forest Service policies, requires keeping forest plans current, evaluates the container aerial firefighting system, studies pine beetle infestation, and studies wildfire smoke.

Title III, Subtitle B, White Oak Resilience: Establishes the White Oak Restoration Initiative Coalition, creates a Forest Service pilot program for white oak restoration, requires a Department of the Interior white oak assessment, establishes a White Oak and Upland Oak Habitat Regeneration Program, develops a national strategy to address tree nursery shortages, and authorizes white oak research.

Title IV, Ensuring Casualty Assistance for Firefighters: Establishes a Wildland Fire Management Casualty Assistance Program.

Title V, Other Matters: Addresses use of funds from cooperative agreements, the emergency forest watershed program, improvements to the Emergency Conservation Program and Emergency Forest Restoration Program, and establishment of a unified disaster assistance program.