Kaine & Tillis Lead Bipartisan Group of Senators Asking Senate Leadership to Consider National Forest Bills

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Tim Kaine (D-VA) and Thom Tillis (R-NC) sent a letter to Senate leadership requesting the Senate's prompt consideration of a bipartisan package of National Forest bills that advanced unanimously out of the Senate Agriculture Committee on October 21, 2025. The bills affect public lands in Alabama, Arkansas, Illinois, Minnesota, Mississippi, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and Wisconsin.

"We write to respectfully request a process to advance a bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President's desk. We are grateful for the Senate Agriculture Committee's unanimous approval of these bills this Congress, and we now ask for your help in sending them to the President's desk to be signed into law," wrote the senators.

"These bills are a product of years, sometimes decades, of work with local communities to strike the balance unique to each of our respective states. Each bill addresses a specific, locally important issue on our public lands, from facilitating recreational access and conservation designations to resolving land ownership technicalities," the senators continued.

"This is an opportunity for Congress to come together to do good work for public lands, local economies, and rural communities," the senators concluded. "We ask you to begin an effort to send a comprehensive, bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President's desk and we stand ready to work together to achieve long awaited results for our communities."

In addition to Kaine and Tillis, the letter was cosigned by U.S. Senators Mark R. Warner (D-VA), Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Tina Smith (D-MN), Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS), Tammy Duckworth (D-IL), and Tammy Baldwin (D-WI).

The full text of the letter is available here and below:

Dear Leader Thune, Leader Schumer, Chairman Boozman, and Ranking Member Klobuchar:

We write to respectfully request a process to advance a bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President's desk. We are grateful for the Senate Agriculture Committee's unanimous approval of these bills this Congress, and we now ask for your help in sending them to the President's desk to be signed into law.

At the Committee's business meeting on October 21, 2025, a slate of public lands bills affecting nine states was approved without objection, reflecting a welcome consensus on managing our National Forest System lands. These bills are a product of years, sometimes decades, of work with local communities to strike the balance unique to each of our respective states. Each bill addresses a specific, locally important issue on our public lands, from facilitating recreational access and conservation designations to resolving land ownership technicalities. Collectively, they benefit communities in Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Arkansas, Alabama, and North Carolina, showing the nationwide reach of this effort.

Facilitating the enactment of this package would enhance recreation opportunities and support local communities while serving as a shining example of a bipartisan, regular order process. This is an opportunity for Congress to come together to do good work for public lands, local economies, and rural communities.

We ask you to begin an effort to send a comprehensive, bipartisan package of National Forest bills to the President's desk and we stand ready to work together to achieve long awaited results for our communities.

Sincerely,

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