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Source: Congress.gov
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U
Unknown (SPEAKER_04)
HR 1655 sponsored by Representative Bentz, the Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act. HR 3187, Representative Hill. HR 3444, by Ranking Member Huffman, the Tribal Self-Determination and Co-Management in Forestry Act of 2025. I ask unanimous consent that the following members be allowed to participate in today's hearing from the dais. General Lady from Oregon, Ms. Hoyle. Without objection? So ordered. Under Committee Rule 4F, any oral opening statements at hearings are limited the chairman and the ranking minority member.
I therefore ask unanimous consent that all other members' opening statements be made part of the hearing record if they are submitted in accordance with Committee Rule 3, parent O. Without objection, so ordered, I will now recognize myself for an opening statement. Today, the Subcommittee on Federal Lands meets to consider four pieces of legislation that will address our nation's forest health and wildfire crisis. Across the United States, more than 1.2 million acres have already burned this year. As we enter the height of wildland fire activity over the next few months, it is critical we advance solutions that will restore forest health, cut red tape, and prevent catastrophic wildfires. We simply cannot afford to wait. That's why the House passed the Fix Our Forest Act earlier this year on a bipartisan basis. The Senate Agriculture Committee has already held two hearings on FOFA, and I look forward to continuing to work with my bipartisan Senate counterparts to send this bill to the President's desk soon. We cannot truly address the wildfire crisis unless we have the right data. Representative Kennedy's Utah Wildfire Research Institute Act of 2025 would create a new Southwest Ecological Restoration Institute to help advance cutting edge research that can be applied on the ground to achieve true results. In Utah, more than 190,000 people live in areas considered to be at high risk of fire. Despite this, Utah is the only four corner state without a Southwest Ecological Restoration Institute. Representative Kennedy's legislation resolves this issue, keeping Utahns safe and ensuring the state remains at the forefront of wildland fire research. I'd also like to highlight Representative Bentz's Wildfire Communications Resiliency Act, Across the country, there are tens of thousands of communications facilities at risk of wildland fire. When those facilities are damaged or destroyed on federal lands, companies must undergo a lengthy permitting process for these facilities to be repaired or rebuilt.
For the millions of Americans that rely on fast, accessible communications infrastructure, these long wait times are unacceptable. Representative Bentz's legislation is a common sense solution to this problem and would allow facilities damaged by wildfires to be rebuilt quickly without undergoing duplicative environmental reviews. This is not an exemption from any type of environmental review. In fact, in order to be built in the first place, these facilities must undergo extensive environmental analysis. The mere fact that communications facilities are damaged during wildfires should not mean that they are forced to undertake the same duplicative processes that have already been completed. In addition to this legislation, we will also consider legislation from Representative Hill to convey a vacant Forest Service building in Perryville, Arkansas to the local community so they can better utilize it as an education and community outreach center. This thoughtful legislation is a win-win as it reduces the burden on the federal taxpayer and helps advance President Trump's recent executive order on restoring common sense to federal office space management. Finally, the Federal Land Subcommittee will continue its important work today, elevating tribes as full partners and managing overgrown, fire-prone forests. In our last hearing, we heard testimony on Representative Hurd's forests Act, which provides several new tools to the Forest Service and Department of the Interior to expand tribal stewardship of federal forests. I look forward to continuing that important discussion today. I'd like to thank each of the sponsors of today's legislation for bringing forward these thoughtful proposals. I also want to thank all the witnesses for being here today. And I look forward to the insights that each of you will bring to this important discussion. With that, I will yield back and recognize the ranking member, Mr. Neguse, for his opening statement.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you to all of our colleagues for joining us today for the hearing, and of course, our witnesses. We're here to consider, as the chairman referenced, four very different bills focused on wildfire research, communications, infrastructure, tribal self-determination, and a land conveyance. Any meaningful response to the wildfire crisis, which I agree is certainly a crisis, demands science-driven solutions, strong interagency coordination, and respect for indigenous knowledge.
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