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ACR 166

Urges Congress to pass "Fix Our Forests Act."

2024-2025 Regular Session Introduced by Dawn Fantasia and 1 co-sponsor

New Jersey urges Congress to pass the Fix Our Forests Act, creating a Fireshed Center that uses risk data to guide wildfire prevention, forest resilience, and safer communities.

Introduced in the Assembly, Referred to Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee
#memorializat
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Bill Summary · ACR 166

Summary of ACR 166 — Urges Congress to pass the “Fix Our Forests Act.”

What the bill is

  • Type: Concurrent resolution (A Concurrent Resolution in the New Jersey Legislature) expressing the State’s urging for federal action.
  • Bill number/title: ACR 166 — Urges Congress to pass the “Fix Our Forests Act.”
  • Status and procedure: Introduced in the New Jersey Assembly on May 22, 2025 and referred to the Assembly Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee.
  • Related legislation: Companion bill SCR 133 in the Senate.

Purpose and intent

  • The resolution asks Congress to enact the federal “Fix Our Forests Act.” It frames the act as a tool to reduce wildfire risk, improve forest resilience, and support safer land management in New Jersey and elsewhere.
  • It emphasizes New Jersey’s forested landscape (about 40% of the state’s land) and the public’s use of forests for recreation and ecological value, alongside the increasing exposure to wildfire risk due to hot, dry, or windy conditions and higher population density.

Key provisions of the referenced federal act (as described in the resolution)

While ACR 166 is a state-level memorialization, it summarizes and endorses the federal framework of the Fix Our Forests Act, which would:
- Create an interagency Fireshed Center to use data for assessing and predicting wildfire risk.
- Use risk data to inform land and fuels management, community and public health risk reduction, fire response, and post-fire recovery strategies.
- Promote a data-driven approach to guide strategic land-management decisions to reduce wildfire risk and severity.
- Employ various forest-management techniques, including prescribed burning, thinning, disease/insect control, and community resilience-building.
- Facilitate environmental reviews for approved forest management practices.
- Limit litigation related to fireshed management projects.
- Promote livestock grazing in forests as a management option.
- Require a study on pine beetle infestations.
- Promote strategies to strengthen the domestic seed supply.

Who/what would be affected

  • Direct impact would be federal policy and funding decisions related to wildfire risk reduction and forest management across the U.S., including coordination between agencies through the Fireshed Center.
  • For New Jersey, the resolution frames the potential benefits as reducing wildfire threats to residential areas, ecosystems, and outdoor recreation areas, while supporting state-informed decision-making on land management practices.
  • The bill mentions potential procedural changes (e.g., environmental reviews) and management approaches (e.g., prescribed fire, grazing) that could influence public land and forest-management practices if enacted at the federal level.

Procedural and timeline aspects

  • Introduced date: May 22, 2025.
  • Legislative action: Assembly referral to the Environment, Natural Resources, and Solid Waste Committee (typical step for a concurrent resolution).
  • The resolution calls for the transmission of its text to federal leaders (Senate and House) and all U.S. members of Congress from New Jersey.

Potential impact and considerations

  • Policy impact: The resolution is a statement of support urging federal action; it does not itself change state law or allocate state funds, but signals New Jersey’s alignment with a data-driven, protective wildfire-management framework.
  • Implications: If the Fix Our Forests Act advances and becomes law, it could guide interagency wildfire risk assessment, environmental review processes, and certain forest-management practices, with potential downstream effects on land-use planning, ecosystem health, and community resilience.
  • Context: It aligns with concerns about increasing wildfire risk in a densely populated state with substantial forested areas.

Bottom line

ACR 166 is a memorializing measure urging Congress to enact the federal Fix Our Forests Act, highlighting the act’s data-driven wildfire risk approach and its potential to enhance forest resilience and public safety in New Jersey and beyond.

Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.

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