Fire Mitigation Committee Reports

Fire Mitigation Committee Report, September 18, 2026

The Fix Our Forest Act, now before Congress. House Resolution 471 passed January 16, 2025. The Senate’s version, Bill 1462 passed through committee on October 21, 2025 and has been placed on the Senate calendar for a vote.

The bill if passed will:

• Create a single interagency coalition of the U.S. Forest Service and U.S. Geological Survey to establish a “Fireshed Center” designating “High-Risk” forests in need of management
• This agency would be able to expedite timber/forest thinning projects, exempting some review processes required by National Environmental Protection Agency (NEPA).
• The created interagency would be better coordinated to help communities that exist along wildland and urban interface.

Also, committee chair Mary Warren attended the Powell County Commissioners Meeting in Gold Creek on August 28 and was informed of timber salvage of 1300 acres south of GMPOA planned along Brock and Warm Springs Roads.