Government starts 7-year plan to restore burned forests

What it does

The bill tells the Interior Department to set up a program. It finds public and tribal lands hurt by wildfires, pests, or bad weather. The program gives money through grants and contracts to help these lands grow back. It runs for 7 years and requires reports to Congress each year. The program works with tribes, states, and local groups.

Who it affects

Tribal lands and public lands damaged by wildfires get restoration money. Tribes get special funding paths. Communities near burned forests may see less wildfire risk.

One thing to notice

The program lasts 7 years and then stops unless Congress votes to keep it. But forests burned by fire often take 10 to 20 years to recover.

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

Where it stands

2 cosponsors: 2 Republicans.

• Jan 16, 2025 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jan 16, 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…”
• Apr 29, 2025 — Hearing held · Congress.gov: “Subcommittee Hearings Held”
• Jul 23, 2025 — Markup held in committee · Congress.gov: “Committee Consideration and Mark-up Session Held”
• Jul 23, 2025 — Reported out of committee · Congress.gov: “Ordered to be Reported 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 H2524)”
• Mar 16, 2026 — Floor vote scheduled · Congress.gov: “Mr. Wittman moved to suspend the rules and pass the bill, as amended”

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

Money around this bill

2 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 3 reports from Dec 2025 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $3,590,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 123 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 41% of bills with any report.

Brittany Pettersen, who sponsored the bill, received $1,095,615 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• American Property Casualty Insurance Association — $3,540,000 in 2 reports
• Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership — $50,000 in 1 report

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

Words to know

• tribal lands — Land owned or controlled by Native American tribes
• grants — Money the government gives to groups to do specific work
• restoration — Work to fix and regrow forests and land damaged by fire or storms
• 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.