Congress creates a plan to save giant sequoia trees from fire.

What it does

The bill sets up a group to check sequoia grove health. Federal agencies must remove dead wood and plant new trees. For seven years, the government can skip some environmental reviews. This speeds up protection work. The bill gives money to nonprofits and tribes for restoration. It also creates a fund from private donors.

Who it affects

The bill protects giant sequoia groves that belong to the public. Nonprofits, tribes, and companies that do restoration work will get grants.

One thing to notice

The bill requires at least three groves to be treated each year. It does not say how much money will pay for the work.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

29 cosponsors: 15 Republicans, 13 Democrats, 1 Independents.

• Apr 8, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Apr 8, 2025 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture and House Committee on Natural Resources · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Natural Resources, and in addition to the Committee on Agriculture, for a period…”
• Mar 5, 2026 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Mar 5, 2026 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported in the Nature of a Substitute (Amended) by Unanimous Consent”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Passed the House · Congress.gov: “On motion to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended Agreed to by voice vote. (text: CR H2503-2507)”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Westerman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”
• Sep 16, 2026 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. Hearings held”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

4 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 6 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $58,560,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 166 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 72% of bills with any report.

Vince Fong, who sponsored the bill, received $981,500 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• Chamber of Commerce of the U.S.A. — $54,660,000 in 3 reports
• Pacific Gas and Electric Company — $3,530,000 in 1 report
• Defenders of Wildlife — $270,000 in 1 report
• Sierra Club — $100,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• environmental reviews — studies that check how a project might harm nature before work starts
• restoration — work to bring a damaged area back to a healthy state
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.