AFBF - American Farm Bureau Federation

11/03/2026 | News release | Distributed by Public on 11/03/2026 16:24

Fix Our Forests Act Protects Natural Resources

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Active stewardship of the nation's forests has a direct impact on many farms, ranches, and rural communities. Chad Smith has more on a bipartisan effort to properly maintain America's forests.

Smith: The key to controlling wildfires and rural America starts in the nation's forests. Shelby Hagenauer, senior director of government affairs for the American Farm Bureau Federation, talked about the Fix Our Forests Act, which is moving through Congress.
Hagenauer: It's a bipartisan effort to speed up the work of thinning our overgrown forests and clearing out dead fuel before a fire starts, not after, which benefits rural communities and, frankly, everybody. So now, the House and the Senate need to reconcile those two versions of the bill and send it on to the President.
Smith: While each chamber of Congress has a different version of the bill, the main focus of each is reducing wildfire risk across the country.
Hagenauer: It includes livestock grazing and ranchers as part of the solution on public lands, both before and after wildfire, to reduce those fuels on the landscape that can really fuel the fire. It reduces unnecessary delays for projects that address wildfire risk, hazardous fuels, insects, and disease, and it really improves programs that help protect watersheds.
Smith: She said the focus of this bill is very important for rural America and asked farmers and ranchers to show their support.
Hagenauer: The next thing to do is I encourage everybody to call your senators. Urge the Senate to work together with the House to reconcile these two bills, so that a final Fix Our Forest Act can be sent to the President before the end of the year.
Smith: For more information on the Fix Our Forests Act, go to fb.org/intel. Chad Smith, Washington.
AFBF - American Farm Bureau Federation published this content on November 03, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on November 03, 2026 at 22:24 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]