Business meeting to consider H.R.4550, to reauthorize the United States Grain Standards Act, S.1462, to improve forest management activities on National Forest System land, public land under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management, and Tribal land to return resilience to overgrown, fire-prone forested land, S.277, to release a Federal reversionary interest and convey mineral interests in Chester County, Tennessee, S.1680, to designate additions to the Rough Mountain Wilderness and the Rich Hole Wilderness of the George Washington National Forest, S.2440, to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to convey certain National Forest System land located in Franklin County, Mississippi, H.R.197, to provide for a land exchange in the Chippewa National Forest, Minnesota, S.1262, to require the Secretary of Agriculture to release a reversionary interest in certain land in the Black River State Forest in Millston, Wisconsin, S.2548, to designate the Camp Hutchins Wilderness and establish Special Management Areas in the Shawnee National Forest in the State of Illinois, S.1681, to establish the Shenandoah Mountain National Scenic Area in the State of Virginia, H.R.1612, to designate the Flatside-Bethune Wilderness in the Ouachita National Forest, S.1350, to modify the boundaries of the Talladega National Forest, S.1376, to amend the National Trails System Act to direct the Secretary of Agriculture to conduct a study on the feasibility of designating the Benton MacKaye Trail as a national scenic trail, S.1876, to authorize the Secretary of Agriculture to relocate a memorial honoring the 9 Air Force crew members who lost their lives in an airplane crash in the Cherokee and Nantahala National Forests during a training mission on August 31, 1982, S.638, to amend the Act of June 22, 1948, and an original bill to require the Secretary of Agriculture to convey a parcel of property of the Forest Service to Perry County, Arkansas.

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee

2025-10-21

Source: Congress.gov

Summary

The U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry convened a business meeting to consider three significant legislative items: H.R. 4550, the United States Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2025; S. 1462, the Fix Our Forest Act; and a package of thirteen land exchange bills.[ 00:20:24-00:20:26 ]

United States Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2025 (H.R. 4550)

This bill aims to reauthorize the services provided by the USDA's Federal Grain Inspection Service, which are crucial for ensuring the timely marketing of high-quality US grain globally.[ 00:20:38-00:20:47 ] The committee adopted a bipartisan amendment in the nature of a substitute. The bill, as amended, was reported out of committee with a unanimous vote of 23-0.

Fix Our Forest Act (S. 1462)

The Fix Our Forest Act, a bipartisan effort, seeks to modernize tools and provide new authorities to federal land management agencies to mitigate catastrophic wildfires, protect communities, and ensure forest health.[ 00:21:19-00:21:30 ] A manager's package of amendments was adopted. However, several amendments proposed by members did not pass, including those seeking to mandate public and tribal collaboration, provide dedicated funding, and preserve judicial review standards. Concerns were raised regarding the reduced Forest Service workforce and potential limitations on public input and judicial oversight. The bill, as amended, was ultimately reported out of committee by a vote of 18-5.

Land Exchange Bills (13 bills)

The committee considered a package of 13 land exchange bills, described as one of the largest public land packages in decades, impacting nine states. These bills address redrawing federal forest boundaries, exchanging land between entities, and declaring wilderness areas.[ 00:22:07-00:22:24 ] Two technical amendments were adopted for specific bills within the package. The entire block of 13 bills passed unanimously with 23 yeas and 0 nays.

Tone of the Meeting

The meeting was largely characterized by a cooperative and bipartisan spirit, particularly in the successful advancement of the Grain Standards Reauthorization Act and the land exchange bills.[ 00:20:52-00:21:03 ] Committee members frequently acknowledged and thanked staff for their extensive work.[ 00:22:50-00:23:09 ] While there were robust debates and disagreements on amendments related to the Fix Our Forest Act, particularly concerning public input, funding, and judicial review, a commitment to continued collaboration on these complex issues was expressed.

Participants

Transcript

I call to order a business meeting of the U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry to consider H.R.  4550, the United States Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2025, S. 1462, the Fix Our Forest Acts, and 13 land exchange bills.  Our nation's agricultural system relies on the weighing and inspection services provided by the USDA's Federal Grain Inspection Service   and partner agencies to facilitate the timely marketing of high quality US grain into the global marketplace.  I appreciate the bipartisan groundwork laid by Chairman Thompson.   and Ranking Member Craig on reauthorizing the U.S.  Grain Standards Reauthorization Act of 2025, and today we build upon their efforts.  The Fix Our Forest Act, commonly referred to as FOFA, represents the dedication of a bipartisan group of senators, Senator Curtis, Senator Hickenlooper, Senator Padilla, and Senator Sheehy, whose states and citizens have suffered tremendous hardship, exorbitant cost to rebuild   and untold environmental damage due to wildfires.  I thank these senators for their leadership and for coming together to address one of our country's most significant natural resource policy issues in a balanced and bipartisan manner.  I would also like to thank my colleague and friend from Arkansas, Representative Bruce Westerman, for his leadership on these issues in the House, and I'm glad that   His staff has joined us today, and I don't know if we're gonna see him later, but we hope so.  The Fix Our Forest Act will modernize existing tools and processes and provide new authorities needed by our federal land management agencies in their fight to mitigate the frequency and intensity of catastrophic wildfire.  These new authorities will help to keep our forest healthy and working for generations to come.
while protecting local communities and Americans from deadly wildfires.  And finally, the committee will consider 13 land exchange bills that pertain to redrawing federal forest boundaries, exchanging land between state entities or private citizens, and the federal government, or declaring wildernesses in certain federal forests.  These bills impact nine different states.  I'm so glad that Senator Klobuchar and I could work to advance these bills out of the committee   because we know they are very important to the senators and House members on both sides of the aisle who led these bills.  I would also like to thank our staffs for their assistance over the last few months.  Specifically, I'd like to thank Carly McLean, Coleman Garrison, Brooke Taylor, Corey Weber of my staff, and Alex Nofsinger and Josh Tonziger of Senator Klobuchar's staff.   And again, they did an exceptional job.  I now recognize the ranking member for any comments that she might have.
Well, thank you very much, Mr.  Chair, and   This is a very important package of bills before us today, and I want to thank all the members who worked on this, and especially the grain standards reauthorization, something we care a lot about.  The Fix Our Forest bills, which Senators Hickenlooper, Padilla, Curtis, and Sheehy have led in the Senate.   along with, as you noted, Westerman and Peters in the House.  We will continue to work on this bill.  I want to see some funding for the agencies as part of it, but some important changes have been made to the House bills, including   clarifying the scope of one of the categorical exclusions, recognizing the role of tribes and what they play in forest projects, and adding additional guardrails around the new fire shed management areas.  These were parts of the bill that were added in the Senate due to amendments and other changes from our side.  And I understand some of my colleagues still would like to see more changes.  I agree with them.   But I think it's really important to advance this bill to allow us to make those changes and improve on the house version.  The land packages that were mentioned by the chair could not be more important.  These are things that are all bipartisan in nature.  They are supported by wilderness groups.   across the country and this will amount to one of the biggest packages of bills when it comes to public lands that we have seen in decades.  That package includes land bills in Tennessee, Virginia, Mississippi, Minnesota, Arkansas, Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, and if I'm missing one, I'm sure one of the members will correct me.
So collectively, these bills included in this lands package represent years of hard work, and I do want to thank my staff for working with everyone on these bills, as well as Senator Bozeman's staff.  We continue to work in the shadow of issues surrounding ag, as you all know.  The subject of our committee   And the year-long campaign to reduce the USDA's workforce now has 15,000 fewer employees, including 1,400 fewer Forest Service employees to fight fires.  And while these bills are incredibly important to move forward, it's going to be harder to do the work   of the USDA on forests and other things if we don't make sure that we are hiring back or hiring some of these employees that were let go or terminated long before this shutdown began.  So with that, I want to thank Senator Bozeman for his incredible work and his staff as well as my own staff again, and I'm really excited that we're moving forward on these major bills.  Thank you.
Thank you, Senator Klobuchar, and again, we appreciate all of your help and cooperation and really helping us get us in a good place so that we can move these things forward, as do I with the members of this committee who have worked really hard to, again, advance things.  Before proceeding to legislation, I ask unanimous consent that letters sent to the committee regarding the legislation we are considering today be included in the records.

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