In Western Colorado, we understand how connected everything is: forests to watersheds, snowpack to irrigation, public lands to the economy. And we’ve seen what happens when one part of that system breaks down. Wildfire risk is just one example, and one we have the power to influence.
We all face increasing threat from the West’s hotter, drier, denser forests. That’s just a fact. Last year we lost 9 million acres to wildland fire.
We can’t fix hot, and we can’t fix dry – not in the short term anyway. But we can fix dense.
That’s why the Fix Our Forests Act of 2025 matters. It’s not just a wildfire bill, it’s a blueprint for building the kind of team approach and modern resources we need to restore forest health, protect communities, and support the people who live and work closest to the land.
The Act creates a framework for coordinated action – across agencies, across landowners, and across political divides. It directs the U.S. Forest Service to work with state and tribal partners to identify the highest risk fireshed areas for streamlined environmental review, while still honoring ecological safeguards.
The bill requires treatment plans to: 1) maximize retention of old-growth and large trees; 2) use the best available science to maintain or restore ecological integrity, and 3) be developed and implemented collaboratively. The goal is to get work done faster in the places most at risk for catastrophic wildfires.
The Senate version of the Act, led by Sen. Hickenlooper and a bipartisan team, includes key provisions that reflect Western values of cooperation and practical stewardship by:
– Supporting communities with grants for home hardening, defensible space, and local wildfire education, recognizing that resilience starts in neighborhoods, not just national forests.
– Empowering tribal governments to initiate and manage forest resilience projects on their own lands.
– Encouraging landscape-scale National Environmental Policy Act reviews integrated with state and tribal plans, respecting local knowledge and priorities.
– Enhancing coordination through a new Wildfire Intelligence Center to share data across federal, state, tribal, and local partners.
Smart forest policy is not just about cutting red tape. It’s about building trust, reducing risk, and restoring balance to overgrown, fire-prone landscapes. The Act doesn’t override local priorities; it helps fulfill them. It doesn’t erase environmental safeguards; it aligns forest health with ecological resilience. It doesn’t eliminate judicial review; it sets clearer timelines for legal challenges and limits repeated lawsuits that block the same project. The Act prioritizes collaborative planning and scientific safeguards up front, so that legal disputes don’t stall urgently needed forest work for years.
The Act has earned bipartisan support in both houses of Congress, including our Democratic Sen. John Hickenlooper and Republican Rep. Jeff Hurd. In today’s polarized environment, I take that as a rare and hopeful sign.
A diverse coalition of stakeholders back the Act, including conservation and climate organizations, farmers and ranchers, foresters and fire chiefs, insurance companies, Western governors, and rural counties. That’s the kind of team approach we need to fix our nation’s forests.
Good people are working across divides to craft an effective solution. They need your vocal support to get this important legislation across the finish line. Groups like The Nature Conservancy, Audubon, and the Environmental Defense Fund support FOFA. They see what I hope more of us will: this is a rare bipartisan opportunity to do the right thing for forests, for communities, and for the climate.
Let’s not waste this chance. Inaction means more megafires, more habitat loss, more carbon in the atmosphere, and more risk for all of us. Call or email Senators Hickenlooper and Bennet. Tell them you support the Fix Our Forests Act and you want the Senate to pass it now.
Kathy Fackler lives in Durango, where she advocates for bipartisan solutions to the challenges of climate change.
