Sen. Padilla grills Republicans for trying to push “poison pill” on conservation and wildfire prevention efforts
June 11, 2026 - WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla, a member of the Senate Energy and 
Natural Resources Committee, criticized Senate Republicans’ efforts to undermine forest conservation and block firefighter benefits. At an Energy and Natural Resources Committee hearing, Padilla co-led an effort to push back against Republicans’ efforts to codify the repeal of the U.S. Forest Service’s Roadless Rule and simultaneously proposed an amendment to the Wildfire Prevention Act to expand critical benefits for federal firefighters.
The Roadless Rule is a landmark U.S. Forest Service conservation policy adopted in 2001 that protects nearly 60 million acres of undeveloped National Forest System lands. It prohibits road construction, reconstruction, and commercial timber harvesting to preserve these areas’ ecological and recreational value. Padilla highlighted that Americans across the nation have supported the Roadless Rule since its implementation, and that Republicans’ efforts to overturn the rule undoes previous bipartisan support.
“Right at the deadline, the majority filed an amendment to the previously bipartisan wildfire bill to codify the repeal of the Roadless Rule,” said Senator Padilla. “The 2001 Roadless Area Conservation rule was created through one of the most extensive and rigorous public rulemaking processes in history, garnering over 1.6 million public comments, with 95% of them in support, by the way. The rule remains incredibly popular throughout the country, with over half a million public comments in opposition to the Administration’s recent efforts to repeal the rule. And we now see the Republican majority on this committee working feverishly against the will of all of our constituents.”
The Roadless Rule is vital to protecting nearly 4 million acres of roadless areas across California. Padilla also emphasized that the Roadless Rule reduces wildfire risk, improves wildfire mitigation efforts, and keeps the state’s firefighting costs down.
“The rule helps protect almost 4 million acres of roadless areas in my state, from the Klamath Mountains in the north to the San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains in the south. These areas help keep the headwaters of our important rivers clean, protect over 200 threatened or endangered species of wildlife and support the state’s $74 billion outdoor recreation economy,” continued Senator Padilla. “As this committee knows, every single member of this committee knows, studies have also demonstrated that the fire threat increases by four times with established roads due to human-caused ignitions. So opening inventoried roadless areas to road construction would put rural communities at increased risk of fire.”
Video of Padilla’s remarks is available here.
Later in the committee hearing, Padilla proposed an amendment to the Wildfire Prevention Act that would reinstate important workforce provisions previously negotiated and unanimously passed by the Energy and Natural Resources Committee – delivering critical benefits for federal firefighters as peak wildfire season approaches. Specifically, this amendment would expand retirement benefits and ensure a federal firefighter’s rent never exceeds 30% of their base and locality pay. Republicans struck down Padilla’s amendment.
“These provisions provide critical benefits for the federal firefighting workforce just as we enter peak wildfire season. These heroes protect our communities, and I find it incredibly disheartening to see my colleagues, many of whom say they support our federal firefighters and thank them when they respond to incidents, strip out these provisions that they voted to support last Congress,” said Senator Padilla. “I appreciate the work that we did last year, negotiating these provisions, and again approving them on a unanimous, bipartisan basis. I hope my colleagues will support these same critically important provisions today.”
The committee hearing also entailed consideration of Senator John Hoeven’s (R-N.D.) Dakota Water Resources Act which has historically moved forward with Padilla’s bill to authorize additional funding for the San Joaquin River Restoration Settlement Act. Padilla highlighted that Democrats’ bills were intentionally cut out of the committee’s markup by Republicans and demanded fair consideration moving forward.
Padilla has fought tirelessly to reinforce protections for wildfire prevention efforts. Last year, Padilla, alongside Senators John Curtis (R-Utah), John Hickenlooper (D-Colo.), and Tim Sheehy (R-Mont.) introduced the Senate version of theFix Our Forests Act, bipartisan legislation to combat catastrophic wildfires, restore forest ecosystems, and make federal forest management more efficient and responsive. The Senate advanced the bill out of committee in October. Padilla also introduced bipartisan legislation to create a national Wildfire Intelligence Center to streamline federal response and create a whole-of-government approach to combat wildfires. He also announced a package of three bipartisan bills to bolster fire resilience and proactive mitigation efforts, including the Wildfire Emergency Act, the Fire-Safe Electrical Corridors Act, and the Disaster Mitigation and Tax Parity Act. The Senators have also announced growing support from state and local government officials, community leaders, and industry stakeholders for the Senate version of the Fix Our Forests Act.
Source: Senator Alex Padilla
