September 25, 2025 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, U.S. Senators Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.), co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus, announced bipartisan legislation to help permanently conserve forestlands and mitigate increasing wildfire risks. Representatives John Garamendi (D-Calif.-08) and Ken Calvert (R-Calif.-41) are leading companion legislation in the House.
The Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act would allow states to designate accredited nonprofit land trusts to manage conservation easements purchased with federal funding from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program (FLP). This additional flexibility would allow private landowners who are interested in conservation but do not want to sell an easement on their property to federal or state governments, as is currently required, to conserve more land.
Forest management and conservation are critical to minimizing wildfire risk by reducing hazardous fuels, building healthier and more resilient forests, and allowing for effective fire mitigation practices. By saving states money and time, this change would also expand the FLP’s impact and conservation footprint.
“Californians know that the status quo isn’t working when it comes to wildfire and forest management. Addressing the wildfire crisis requires collaboration between federal and state governments, private landowners, and nonprofit land trusts to responsibly manage our forest lands,” said Senator Padilla. “It also means working across the aisle to build practical solutions to strengthen our forest resiliency. Our bipartisan bill would improve the conservation of private forests to mitigate wildfire risk while protecting important forest resources and habitat and expanding access to outdoor recreation.”
“Restoring responsible, commonsense land management is key to protecting property, homes, and communities across the country against the threat of catastrophic wildfire. I’m proud to be part of this bipartisan effort to streamline coordination between federal, state, and local governments and provide landowners the support they need to ensure proper forest management and reduce wildfire risk across the country,” said Senator Sheehy.
“As the former Deputy Secretary of the Interior to President Clinton, I know that our national conservation goals cannot be achieved through public land ownership alone. Federal and state governments can, and must, do a better job of working with private landowners who want to conserve their land, as my family did for our cattle ranch in 1998. I’m honored to join Senator Padilla in introducing a bill that would unlock millions in federal funding to help states conserve working forestlands, create good-paying jobs, and support sustainable forest management practices that reduce wildfire risk,” said Representative Garamendi.
“The Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act will provide new tools to help achieve our conservation, forest management, and economic goals. This bipartisan bill is an important step in strengthening partnerships between private landowners and public stakeholders interested in conserving forestlands,” said Representative Calvert.
Protection of private forests through FLP maintains a multitude of public benefits, including clean drinking water, habitats for fish and wildlife, timber, fuel, other forest products, and activities such as hunting, fishing, camping. Since its creation in 1990, FLP has conserved over 3 million acres of forest land and expanded across the country to 53 states and territories.
The bill is endorsed by organizations including Partnership of Rangeland Trusts, American Farmland Trust, Pacific Crest Trail Association, Pacific Forest Trust, California Rangeland Trust, North Coast Land Conservancy, American River Conservancy, Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, Georgia-Alabama Land Trust, Northeast Wilderness Trust, Sequoia Riverlands Trust, Oregon Agricultural Trust, Placer Land Trust, Maine Coast Heritage Trust, Natural Lands, Society for the Protection of New Hampshire Forests, Forest Society of Maine, Lookout Mountain Conservancy, and Saratoga PLAN.
“The Forest Legacy Program remains the largest program for federal funding to states for private forest conservation, but only government entities can hold the conservation easements acquired through the Program. This legislation would grant states the flexibility to have land trusts hold these easements, thereby increasing the potential for high priority lands to be conserved through this Program, saving the state money, and increasing the impact of the Program at no additional administrative cost,” said CalFire Director/Fire Chief Joe Tyler.
“We applaud Senators Padilla and Sheehy for introducing this bill. This bi-partisan legislation is a commonsense, no-cost enhancement to the Forest Legacy Program — the largest program for federal funding to states for private forest conservation. It will make it easier for private landowners and states to fulfill their goals of voluntarily conserving well-managed working forestlands for all their public benefits while maintaining private ownership. The option provided in this bill will help many states leverage private-public partnerships to get better outcomes while saving money and resources. This bill would unlock and leverage millions in federal funding to help states conserve priority working forestlands, create good-paying jobs, and support sustainable forest management practices that reduce wildfire risk,” said Laurie Wayburn, Pacific Forest Trust President.
In the aftermath of the catastrophic Southern California fires, Senator Padilla has introduced more than a dozen bills to help prevent and respond to future wildfires, including the Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act, bipartisan legislation to combat catastrophic wildfires, restore forest ecosystems, and make federal forest management more efficient and responsive. Padilla highlighted the Senate Fix Our Forests Act after joining federal and state emergency officials for a tour of the Pacific Palisades fire recovery area led by the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Padilla and Senator Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) also introduced the FEMA Independence Act, bipartisan legislation to restore FEMA as an independent, cabinet-level agency and improve efficiency in federal emergency response efforts.
A one-pager on the Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act is available here.
Full text of the bill is available here.
Credit: CAL FIRE
Source: Senator Alex Padilla
