Downing Introduces the Accelerating Forest Management Act

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, Congressman Troy Downing introduced the Accelerating Forest Management Act, legislation to codify the Bureau of Land Management's proposed National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) categorical exclusion for timber salvage projects in order to speed up active forest management, reduce wildfire risk, and support rural economies.

The legislation would permanently authorize streamlined environmental reviews for routine timber salvage projects up to 5,000 acres on BLM lands, helping federal land managers remove dead and dying timber before it fuels catastrophic wildfire.

"Montanans know firsthand the devastation catastrophic wildfires can bring to our communities, forests, and economy," said Congressman Downing. "For too long, burdensome red tape and delayed environmental reviews have prevented timely forest management projects from moving forward. The Accelerating Forest Management Act restores commonsense tools to quickly remove dead and hazardous timber, reduce wildfire fuel loads, and support the rural communities, mills and jobs that rely on healthy forests."

Background:

In 2024, the Biden administration removed longstanding timber harvest authorities from the Bureau of Land Management, limiting the agency's ability to efficiently conduct salvage harvesting and thinning projects following severe wildfire seasons across the West.

The Bureau of Land Management recently proposed two new categorical exclusions under NEPA to restore and expand streamlined review authorities for routine timber salvage and thinning projects. The proposed exclusions would apply to projects up to 5,000 acres, replacing current limits of 250 acres for salvage projects and 70 acres for thinning projects.

Categorical exclusions apply to categories of actions determined not to have significant environmental impacts, eliminating the need for lengthy environmental reviews and helping projects move forward more efficiently.

Over the past three decades, forests across the western United States have experienced widespread die-offs caused by wildfire, insect infestations, drought and disease. Since 2000, wildfires have burned an average of 7.3 million acres annually nationwide, including more than 236,000 acres annually on BLM lands.

By streamlining routine forest management projects, the Accelerating Forest Management Act would help reduce wildfire risk, improve forest health, preserve timber value, sustain rural timber jobs and support local forest product industries across the West.

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