Support Congress’ Fix Our Forests Act to protect forests, wildlife
Published 1:30 am Sunday, February 1, 2026
It’s a no-brainer: Healthier forests mean healthier and more abundant wildlife populations. When forests are clogged with closed tree canopies, native grasses and vegetation lose out and cannot get the sunlight and nutrition needed to thrive. That’s bad news for everything from birds and bees to bears and elk. Plus, dead downfall and midsized trees serve as ladder fuels that elevate the possibility of high-intensity fires that threaten public safety.
According to the National Interagency Fire Center, 64,897 wildfires in 2024 burned more than 8.9 million acres that decimated forestland and destroyed 4,552 structures. In 2025, 61,527 fires burned almost five million more acres. The cost to fight these fires is in the billions.
I am a member of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation which supports the Fix Our Forest Act. Already passed by the U.S. House with a huge 279-141 bipartisan vote, FOFA supports responsible management of our forests, sagebrush and grasslands by expediting and streamlining the review of forest management projects. It also bolsters cooperation between the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management with states and other partners and reduces unnecessary litigation that stymies much-needed wildlife habitat treatments like prescribed burns and forest thinning.
In Washington, there are more than 12 million acres of federally managed land, which is about 29 percent of our state’s total area. Fires burned more than 251,000 acres in 2025. Our forests need a helping hand. Science agrees with that. Recent studies show thinned forests are healthy forests, and prescribed burns help restore healthy forests and ecosystems. Yet another study highlights how fire suppression makes wildfires more severe and accentuates the impacts of climate change and fuel accumulation.
So, for the sake of our forests, our wildlife and our public safety in Washington and across the country, please join me in urging Sens. Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray to vote in favor of the Fix Our Forests Act.
Dan Paulson
Snohomish
