Romney, Curtis offer bipartisan, bicameral bill to upgrade federal wildland fire policy

Bipartisan, bicameral legislation introduced on June 21 by U.S. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) and U.S. Rep. John Curtis (R-UT) seeks to reform current federal wildland fire policy, which is a patchwork of legislation and agency guidance across departments and jurisdictions that is further complicated by mixed land ownership.

“As the American West continues to get drier and fires become more destructive, it doesn’t make sense to continue to adhere to the fire policies of the past,” said Sen. Romney on Monday. 

The Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission Act of 2021, S. 2150, would require a review of the nation’s wildland firefighting strategy and specific policy recommendations by a commission made up of the nation’s top experts, including state and local stakeholders, according to the bill summary provided by the lawmakers.

Sen. Romney sponsored S. 2150 with original cosponsor U.S. Sen. Mark Kelly (D-AZ) to establish a commission of federal and non-federal stakeholders to study and recommend fire prevention, mitigation, management, and rehabilitation policies for America’s forests and grasslands. Rep. Curtis’ introduced a companion bill.

“With nearly 400 wildfires burning more than 40,000 acres of land, Utah’s 2021 fire season has already surpassed the five-year average for this time of year,” Sen. Romney said. “Our legislation lays out a comprehensive strategy which would bring together officials from all levels of government — including county and city representation — and outside experts to improve strategies to prevent future wildfires from becoming catastrophic disasters in Utah and across the West.”

During a Monday press conference the lawmakers held to announce the bill, Rep. Curtis noted that Utah currently is experiencing multiple extreme wildfires and land managers are preparing for another unprecedented fire season. 

“The current drought combined with decades of poor federal forest management has made wildfires more likely, fire behavior unpredictable, and fighting fires more difficult,” Rep. Curtis said. “As those charged with ensuring our land is healthy and available to future generations, we must do better and follow the advice of professionals to mitigate fire risk in the first place, ensure our national fire response is sufficient, and help our communities swiftly recover.”

“There is no better time than now to work together to improve policy and focus on practices that can make a difference for our future, including better prevention, mitigation, management and rehabilitation,” Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said during the press conference. “I appreciate the good work of Senators Romney and Kelly and Representative Curtis on this legislation. Working together with the experts in the field will lead us to the best policies and practices on our landscapes for years to come.”