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To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.
Summary
The bill requires the Secretary of Agriculture to suppress wildfires on National Forest System lands in severe drought or high-risk firesheds, with the goal of extinguishing detected fires within 24 hours. The Forest Service must use all available resources for suppression and cannot inhibit state or local firefighting efforts. Prescribed fires and backfires are restricted; backfires or burnouts may only be initiated by incident commander order or for firefighter safety, and all such fires must be controlled and extinguished.
AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.
Sponsor (1)
9 cosponsors
- Rep. Biggs, Andy [R-AZ-5] (R-AZ)
- Rep. Calvert, Ken [R-CA-41] (R-CA)
- Rep. Downing, Troy [R-MT-2] (R-MT)
- Rep. Issa, Darrell [R-CA-48] (R-CA)
- Rep. Kiley, Kevin [R-CA-3] (R-CA)
- Rep. LaMalfa, Doug [R-CA-1] (R-CA)
- Rep. Owens, Burgess [R-UT-4] (R-UT)
- Rep. Stauber, Pete [R-MN-8] (R-MN)
- Rep. Zinke, Ryan K. [R-MT-1] (R-MT)
Money behind the sponsor
Top reported contributors to Tom Mcclintock’s campaign committee (2024 cycle) — who funds the bill’s sponsor, not a claim about this bill. Data from FEC.
- SOVEREIGN NATION $21,650
- NOT PROVIDED $14,100
- TECHNICAL MAINTENANCE SUPPORT, INC. $10,700
- NULL $10,350
- CEN-CAL FIRE SYSTEMS, INC. $6,600
Organizations whose employees gave the most — itemized individual contributions grouped by the donor’s reported employer (FEC Schedule A). Full finance for Tom Mcclintock → · Outside spending →
Actions (6)
- Jan 8, 2026 Reported (Amended) by the Committee on Natural Resources. H. Rept. 119-429, Part I. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Ordered to be Reported (Amended) by Voice Vote. · house
- Jul 23, 2025 Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held · house
- Feb 7, 2025 Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned. · house
- Jan 3, 2025 Introduced in House
More bills on these subjects (8)
Other bills that carry the most legislative subjects in common with this one (topical discovery — distinct from the procedural related bills above).
Similar bills (6)
Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.
Text versions (1)
Bills are re-published as they move (Introduced → Reported → Engrossed → Enrolled …). Each stage below is a separate text; pick two to see what changed. Data from Congress.gov.
Full text
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
January 3, 2025
Mr. McClintock (for himself, Mr. Calvert, Mr. LaMalfa, Mr. Biggs of Arizona, Mr. Stauber, and Mr. Issa) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
A BILL
To require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out activities to suppress wildfires, and for other purposes.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SUPPRESSION OF WILDFIRES.
(a) In General.—With respect to covered National Forest System lands, the Secretary of Agriculture, acting through the Chief of the Forest Service—
(1) shall—
(A) use all available resources to carry out wildfire suppression with the purpose of extinguishing wildfires detected on such lands not later than 24 hours after such a wildfire is detected; and
(B) immediately suppress any prescribed fire that exceeds prescription;
(2) shall not inhibit the suppression efforts of State or local firefighting agencies that are authorized to respond to wildfire on such lands;
(3) may only use fire as a resource management tool if the fire is a prescribed fire that complies with applicable law and regulations;
(4) may only initiate a backfire or burnout during a wildfire—
(A) by order of the responsible incident commander; or
(B) in instances that are necessary to protect the health and safety of firefighting personnel; and
(5) shall use all available resources to control any such initiated backfire or burnout until extinguished.
(b) Covered National Forest System Lands Defined.—In this section, the term “covered National Forest System lands” means any area—
(1) located within National Forest System lands; and
(2) that—
(A) the U.S. Drought Monitor has rated as having a D2 (severe drought) intensity, D3 (extreme drought) intensity, or D4 (exceptional drought) intensity;
(B) the National Interagency Fire Center declares has a National Wildland Fire Preparedness level of 5; or
(C) the Forest Service has identified as being located in a fireshed ranked in the top 10 percent of wildfire exposure (as determined using the most recently published models of fireshed risk exposure published by the Forest Service). <all>
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