Wildfire prevention emerges as a rare bipartisan priority in Congress

SALT LAKE CITY — Bipartisan victories have become increasingly rare on Capitol Hill. But with wildfires raging across the West, blind to the political affiliations of those who are affected, lawmakers from both sides of the aisle are racing to find a solution.

Members of Congress have spent months negotiating legislation aimed toward mitigating natural disasters in their home states, with at least one bill led by Sen. John Curtis slowly inching its way toward final passage. The Fix Our Forests Act advanced through the Senate Agriculture Committee in October, but it has yet to receive a final vote.

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Now, after millions of acres have burned in the Western United States in a record-setting wildfire season, senators are pushing to ensure the legislation can make it past the finish line.

“I think if we can (fix) all the concerns, we can get this quickly to the floor,” Curtis told the Deseret News in an interview. “It’s got priorities of (Senate Majority Leader John) Thune and other leadership, and I think the bipartisan nature of the bill would make this just an easy win for everybody. I think it’s not so much making it a priority among other priorities as it is just clearing all the hurdles.”

After months of negotiation, the bipartisan bill is largely finished. If passed, the Fix Our Forests Act would implement provisions to improve forest management by streamlining environmental reviews and strengthening cooperation between local and federal agencies, among other things.

Lawmakers are still working through “technical changes,” Curtis said, before it can be considered in a Senate-wide vote. But the Utah senator expressed confidence that process could be completed in the coming weeks.

“We have solved a lot of them, and we’ll stay at it until we solve all of them,” Curtis said of the lingering concerns. “I think all of us had hoped before the break to get a vote on it. Doesn’t look like that’s going to happen, but I think it’s fair to say we will be very hard at work during the break trying to clear out those last obstacles.”

The Senate is set to adjourn this week for its annual August recess period, and the chamber is not scheduled to reconvene until Sept. 14. After that, the Senate will only be in session for three weeks before leaving town for the month of October to give lawmakers time to campaign ahead of the midterm elections.

Between now and then, Congress has a hefty to-do list. Just this week, GOP leaders hope to advance legislation on government funding, supplemental military spending, Russia sanctions, key Trump administration nominations, and more.

But Curtis said he wasn’t concerned about the wildfire prevention bill falling to the wayside. In fact, the Utah senator said he was confident that once the bill can reach the floor, it would pass with major bipartisan support.

“I’m almost tempted to guarantee a number,” Curtis said with a laugh, predicting it would get strong support from both parties. “It came out of committee 18-5, so it wouldn’t be unusual to see similar numbers on the floor.”

Bipartisan lawmakers huddle to mitigate costs of natural disasters

The Fix Our Forests Act is just one of several pieces of legislation lawmakers are pushing to prevent wildfires and mitigate the effects of natural disasters.

A group of senators, including Curtis, met for a bipartisan roundtable on Tuesday to discuss pending legislation in what amounted to a makeshift brainstorming session. Senators from roughly a dozen states discussed the natural disasters affecting their constituents while questioning natural disaster experts on how federal officials can work better with local agencies.

During the panel, Curtis thanked California Sen. Alex Padilla, a Democratic cosponsor of the Fix Our Forests Act, as he urged the passage of the bill.

Curtis later told the Deseret News that Padilla has been a “great partner” as the pair have worked to draft legislation that not only musters bipartisan support but is applicable to states with far different wildfire realities.

“California and Utah are so different, and our forests are so different. But the reality of it is, they have a lot of similarities in what causes the fires,” Curtis said.

Lawmakers also cited the rising costs of wildfires and natural disasters, pointing to proposed legislation not only as a way to protect people and infrastructure but also a way to save the country billions of dollars.

Wildfires alone are projected to cost the country anywhere from $394 billion to $893 billion annually when combining the costs of property destruction, fire suppression, health impacts, and labor market losses, according to a 2023 study from the Senate Joint Committee.

Curtis acknowledged the costs of wildfires often get lost in the conversations about passing legislation, but argued the price tag of preventing damage is far below the actual costs of responding.

“The more we can articulate the cost of fires versus the cost of prevention, I think the more we’ll see we are spending way more on fighting fires than we would spend on preventing fires,” Curtis said. “And it’s not only cost, but think of the property damage, think of the emissions. I mean, there’s all these other layers of devastation that come with these fires.”