House Ag holds subcommittee hearing on forestry partnerships

The House Agriculture Forestry and Horticulture Subcommittee held a hearing last week on the importance of partnerships to forest health.

Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., called for the passage of a new farm bill, which has a forestry title.

The 2026 farm bill, which passed on the House floor just last month, continues a longstanding effort on partnerships and provides additional improvements, Newhouse said. It also reauthorizes the Landscape-Scale, Collaborative Forest Landscape, and the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Partnership programs, he added.

Rep. Andrea Salinas, D-Ore., the ranking member on the subcommittee, said, “Despite the threat wildfires pose to Oregon and much of the West, this administration is taking steps that make us all less safe.”

“Specifically, the reorganization of the Forest Service and the administration’s consolidation of wildfire response under the Department of Interior are causing chaos in our communities and are creating more questions than answers about the future of forest management.” Salinas said.

“These changes come at a dangerous time — right as wildfire season is taking hold with 2.7 million acres already burned nationwide, exceeding the 10-year average for both fires and acres burned to date.”

-The Hagstrom Report