Farm Bill Passes House: Zinke Secures Huge Wins to Repeal Cottonwood, Support Farmers & Ranchers, Improve Wildlife Conservation

Washington, D.C. - Today, Congressman Ryan Zinke announced the House passage of the Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026, commonly known as the Farm Bill. A comprehensive piece of legislation designed to strengthen American agriculture, support rural communities, and improve forest and land management. The bill includes six provisions sponsored or co-sponsored by Zinke, notably codifying a permanent fix to the disastrous Cottonwood Decision that has strangled forest management in Montana for over a decade.

"The Farm Bill gives farmers and ranchers the certainty they need to keep doing what they do best and keeps the communities around them strong and stable," said Zinke. "It preserves food assistance for those who truly need it while cutting waste and fraud and making sure families have access to nutritious food. It supports rural economies, strengthens basic infrastructure so it actually works for the people who live there, and helps folks get access to the health services they rely on without having to leave their towns. It also pushes smarter forest management to reduce wildfire risk and keep our lands healthier for the long haul. At the end of the day, this bill is about keeping American agriculture and small towns strong and built to last."

The Farm Bill, typically reauthorized every five years, has been operating under an extension since 2023. This legislation reauthorizes and modernizes key USDA programs through 2031, providing long-term stability for producers.

Key provisions of the Farm Bill include:

• Expands access to credit and risk management tools for farmers and ranchers facing tough economic conditions
• Improves SNAP with stronger accountability and a greater focus on healthier outcomes, without increasing federal spending
• Bolsters support for specialty crop producers and domestic fruit and vegetable production
• Streamlines conservation programs and strengthens management of working lands and federal forests
• Enhances export promotion efforts to help address the agricultural trade deficit
• Modernizes rural development and energy programs and increases investment in research
• Protects interstate livestock commerce and maintains access to critical crop protection tools

The legislation is supported by more than 500 agricultural and stakeholder organizations and maintains budget neutrality while preserving savings achieved through the One Big Beautiful Bill.

Zinke provisions included in the bill

Habitat Connectivity on Working Lands Act

The bill directs USDA to provide more resources and incentives for farmers and ranchers to improve habitat connectivity and wildlife movement on working lands, prioritizing wildlife corridors within critical conservation areas under the Regional Conservation Partnership Program and building on efforts like Wyoming's Big Game Conservation Partnership. It encourages practices like virtual fencing to better manage livestock and expand USDA research and guidance on connectivity tools. Congressman Zinke has long led on this issue, including as Secretary of the Interior when he signed Secretarial Order 3362 in 2018 to work with western states on improving big-game winter range and migration corridors on federal lands while respecting state authority and private property rights, a framework that helped states like Wyoming protect key mule deer migration corridors in southwest Wyoming.

FIR Act (Cottonwood Fix)

The bill provides a permanent legislative fix to the Cottonwood court decision by limiting when the U.S. Forest Service must reinitiate consultation with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to cases involving substantial new developments or changes to forest management plans. It will reduce delays that have stalled logging and forest management projects, address backlogs, and improve wildfire response and habitat management across Montana and the West. Zinke has previously introduced similar legislation in 2016 and 2023, both of which drew bipartisan and conservation support.

The Cottonwood decision stems from a 2015 ruling by Obama-appointed U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen in Cottonwood Environmental Law Center v. U.S. Forest Service, after a lawsuit brought by the Bozeman-based environmental group the Cottonwood Environmental Law Center. The ruling forced the Forest Service to reopen Endangered Species Act consultations on already approved forest plans, giving activist groups a pathway to repeatedly relitigate projects and tie them up in court. Since then, Montana has become the most litigated states in the country for timber harvesting, with projects delayed or halted, closing mills and leaving loggers and rural counties left in limbo. The decision has blocked common-sense forest management like thinning and fuels reduction, increasing wildfire risk while undercutting a key part of Montana's economy.

Legislation cosponsored by Zinke included in the Bill

• H.R. 4713 Rural Hospital Technical Assistance Program Act - Provides resources and guidance to help rural hospitals remain operational and expand access to care
• H.R. 3361 Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program Reauthorization Act of 2025 - Extends successful forest restoration efforts that reduce wildfire risk and improve forest health
• H.R.178 - To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes - Strengthens the Forest Service's ability to carry out wildfire suppression and prevention activities
• H.R. 179 Proven Forest Management Act of 2025 - Promotes active forest management to reduce forest fuels (dead and dying timber, etc.) and prevent catastrophic wildfires.

The bill now heads to the Senate for a vote.

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