Legislative hearing on H.R. 926, H.R. 3922, H.R. 4038, H.R. 4684 and H.R. 6300
2026-01-14
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Source: Congress.gov
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The Honorable Harriet Hageman
Subcommittee on Federal Lands will come to order. Without objection, the chair is authorized to declare a recess of the subcommittee at any time. Subcommittee is meeting today to consider five bills, HR 926 by Representative Cohen, HR 3922 by Representative Neguse, HR 4038 by Representative Kim, HR 4684 by Representative Kennedy of Utah, Grand Entrance, HR 6300 by Representative Hageman. I ask unanimous consent that the following members be allowed to participate in today's hearing from the dais. The gentlelady from Wyoming, Ms. Hageman. The gentleman from Tennessee, Mr. Cohen. The gentlelady from California, Ms. Kim. Without objection, so ordered. Under Committee Rule 4F, any oral opening statements at hearings are limited to 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 . Without objection, so ordered. I'll now recognize myself for an opening statement. Before turning to today's business, I want to recognize the passing of our friend and colleague, Representative Doug LaMalfa. Congressman LaMalfa was a committed champion for rural America and the West. He was a dedicated member of the Natural Resources Committee, and though he was not formally a member of this subcommittee, you would never know it based on his frequent attendance of our hearings and his important work on federal lands policy. Just last month, I worked with Congressman LaMalfa to help lead a successful reauthorization of the Secure Rural Schools program into law.
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The Honorable Harriet Hageman
The SRS program provides critical funding to rural communities with significant federal forest acreage, supporting schools, roads, and other vital public services. He truly was a tireless and dedicated fighter for his constituents and rural America. Our prayers are with his family, friends, and staff during this very difficult time. His leadership and passion for these issues, particularly on sound forest management, will be sorely missed by this subcommittee and by all who had the privilege of knowing him. As we remember Representative LaMalfa's legacy, it is fitting that the bills before us today reflect responsible management and use of our federal lands and support for our rural communities. With that, we will now turn to the legislation before us. The Bipartisan Wildfire Response and Preparedness Act, introduced by Representative Kim, is a common sense proposal that would require the Secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to establish a standard response time for wildland fires on federal lands. Under this bill, agencies would be required to respond to wildfires within 30 minutes and deploy fire suppression assets within three hours of ignition. Many would be shocked to learn that no such standardized response time exists across federal agencies right now. Instead, decisions about initial attack are left up to subjective factors that vary across agencies, regions, and individuals. Aggressive initial attacks are critical to preventing fires from escalating into large, uncontrollable blazes that cause widespread devastation. Look no further than 2025's largest wildfire, the Dragon Bravo Fire at Grand Canyon National Park. which did not have an aggressive initial response and ultimately burned 145,000 acres and destroyed more than 100 structures, including the iconic Grand Canyon Lodge.
Establishing standardized response times to fight wildfires will improve accountability, speed interagency coordination, and secure federal firefighting resources nationwide. Research has found that by establishing a standard response time of 30 minutes, we can reduce the number of escaped fires by 25%.
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The Honorable Harriet Hageman
This is particularly important in high-risk areas and during dry, fire-prone periods of the year when a delayed response can dramatically increase the scale and severity of the wildfire. Importantly, this bill's emphasis on aggressive initial attack also advances the goals of President Trump's executive order
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The Honorable Harriet Hageman
With that being said, the best way to respond to wildfires is to prevent them from happening in the first place. That's why I'm hopeful that the Senate will soon take up the Fix Our Forest Act, which overwhelmingly passed the House one year ago this month. I also want to highlight Representative Hageman's Grasslands Grazing Act of 2025. This legislation addresses a technical inconsistency in federal grazing law affecting national grasslands managed by the Forest Service. The Forest Service oversees more than 193 million acres nationwide, including nearly four million acres of national grasslands. Although Congress has long authorized grazing under the agency's multiple use mission, Current law does not explicitly extend permit renewal eligibility to permittees on national grasslands. Representative Hageman's legislation aligns the Federal Land Policy and Management Act with Congress's existing definition of the National Forest System, ensuring parity, transparency, and certainty for grazing permittees while supporting rangeland health and rural economies. This is a good bill that will benefit public lands ranchers and lead to better management of our federal lands. Finally, we will consider Representative Kennedy's Star Spangled Summit Act, which restores a local patriotic tradition in Utah. For more than two decades, a local scout master, Robert Collins, led an annual hike to raise the American flag as a symbol of community and American pride at Kaiba,
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