Forest Service gains new power to fight beetle infestations with states and tribes
H.R. 9999 — Mountain Pine Beetle Coordination Act · Filed by Brittany Pettersen (D-CO) · 1 cosponsor · Introduced Jul 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill authorizes the U.S. Forest Service to sign cooperative agreements with state and local governments and federally recognized Indian tribes to jointly detect, treat, and reduce mountain pine beetle infestations and associated wildfire risk on federal and non-federal lands. The bill also directs the USDA's Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service to provide technical assistance on beetle monitoring and management upon request.
Why we flagged it
The bill's operative mechanism is enabling intergovernmental cooperation on a specific ecological threat (mountain pine beetle) with clear public-health and wildfire-prevention objectives. It is a straightforward authorization for collaborative resource management.
What the text implies
- Cooperative agreements may create ongoing federal-state-tribal partnerships that could establish precedent for joint management of other forest health threats (bark beetles, disease, invasive species) beyond the immediate scope.
- Technical assistance from APHIS may require appropriations not specified in the bill; implementation depends on budget allocation and staffing capacity.
- The bill does not specify funding mechanisms, appropriation levels, or timelines, leaving implementation scope and effectiveness dependent on future congressional action.
Section numbers refer to the bill text the analysis read — linked under Primary records below.
Who it affects
The bill expands collaborative forest management and wildfire risk reduction across jurisdictions without restricting citizen rights or imposing new costs. Citizens in beetle-affected regions benefit from improved detection, treatment, and hazard reduction through enhanced federal-state-tribal coordination and technical support.
Named in the bill
U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), State governments, Local governments, Federally recognized Indian tribes
Where it stands
1 cosponsor: 1 Democrats.
- Jul 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Natural Resources and House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committee on Natural Resources, for a period…”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (1,797 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 16,222 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-10-20.
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