Congress·In Committee·H.R. 598

Public Land Management: Endangered Species Rules

FIR Act

about 1 year ago·View on Congress.gov

Part of: House GOP Unveils 2026 Farm Bill Focused on Security and Rural Investment

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Stalled

No legislative action in over 90 days.

Legislative Progress

House

Senate

President

Law

Key Points

Representative Zinke introduced a bill called the FIR Act to change how the government handles environmental reviews on federal lands managed by the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management.
Currently, when a new animal or plant is added to the endangered species list, these agencies often have to pause and redo their long-term land management plans to ensure the species is protected.
This bill would allow the agencies to keep their existing land plans in place without restarting those official reviews, even if a new species is protected or new information about a species' habitat is discovered.
The goal of the policy is to prevent delays for projects like thinning forests to reduce wildfire risks, maintaining hiking trails, and managing cattle grazing on public lands.
This change would affect how the government manages millions of acres of national forests and public lands across the country.
While this could speed up land use projects, some may worry it could lead to decisions that don't fully account for the needs of newly protected wildlife.

Milestones

3 milestones3 actions

Feb 28, 2025House

Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture.

Jan 21, 2025House

Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, 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.

Jan 21, 2025

Introduced in House

1 Article

news_articleCenter

House Agriculture panel releases Farm Bill text and sets markup

Related Bills

3 bills

H.R. 7567Related bill

Farm, Food, and National Security Act of 2026

Feb 13 — Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

H.R. 471Related bill

Fix Our Forests Act

Mar 6 — Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Subcommittee on Conservation, Forestry, Natural Resources, and Biotechnology. Hearings held. With printed Hearing: S.Hrg. 119-27.

H.R. 168Related bill

TORCH Act

Apr 4 — Referred to the Subcommittee on Forestry and Horticulture.