Ask the Senate to oppose the Fix Our Forests Act

Why this Matters

The Fix Our Forests Act, S. 1462, is named to sound like a repair. What it actually does is make it easier to log public forests by shortening environmental review and narrowing the public's chance to weigh in. It also imposes a 120-day judicial review window on forest projects, which falls hardest on the people with the least capacity to respond quickly: small communities and Tribes. The bill passed the House and is now moving in the Senate, where a floor vote could come soon. Oregon has two senators, Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley, and both of them hear from timber interests regularly. They hear from coastal residents less often.

Steps to Take

Step 1

Send your message through Sierra Club's Stand Up For Our Forests action page. It routes to your own senators based on the address you enter.

Step 2

Start your message by saying who you are. As a hiker, as a grandparent, as someone who fishes the Alsea. Staffers sort mail by whether it sounds like a person.

Step 3

Name the review process as the problem, not just the logging. The bill's real damage is to public input and to the time communities get to respond.

Step 4

Ask for a specific answer. Request that your senator state publicly how they intend to vote on S. 1462.

Sample Text

Option 1

As someone who lives and hikes on the Oregon Coast, I am asking you to oppose the Fix Our Forests Act, S. 1462. The bill weakens environmental review and cuts the public out of decisions about land we all own. A 120-day judicial review window is not a reform, it is a barrier aimed at people without lawyers on retainer. Our national forests are already under pressure from executive orders pushing timber production and from the move to repeal the Roadless Rule. Please do not add to it.

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Option 2

I am writing to ask you to vote no on S. 1462. Once an old-growth tree is cut it takes longer than a human lifetime to replace. Those trees hold wildlife, filter our drinking water, store carbon, and are the most fire-resistant part of the forest. Thinning them in the name of fire safety gets the science backwards. Please stand up for our forests and for the public's right to be heard about them.