Gianforte Secures Forest Management Reforms, Committed to Resolving Remaining Issues

WASHINGTON – Montana Congressman Greg Gianforte released the following statement after securing forest management reforms in the Fiscal Year 2018 omnibus package. Gianforte pressed leaders of the House Appropriations Committee to include “active management, litigation reform, and a fix to fire-borrowing” in the omnibus spending bill. “While the reforms in the omnibus are a step in the right direction, they only begin to address the issue of devastating wildfires,”Gianforte said. “There’s more to do to protect our communities and livelihoods from catastrophic wildfires, including ending the practice of frivolous lawsuits from environmental extremist groups that tie up critical projects and threaten our way of life.” Gianforte sponsored the Resilient Federal Forests Act to address the growing economic and environmental threats of severe wildfires aggravated by inadequate forest management. The legislation passed the U.S. House of Representatives in November 2017, and has been held up in the Senate for nearly five months. “Since last fire season, I’ve worked to get us managing our forests again and prevent catastrophic wildfires like the ones that burned more than 1.2 million acres in Montana last year,” Gianforte said. “Unfortunately, Chuck Schumer and Senate Democrats have held up the legislation I sponsored to address severe wildfires in Montana and reform how we manage our forests.”