Sequoia protection bill advances fire resilience measures in forests
Iain Hoey
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Bipartisan sequoia legislation advances with focus on fire risk reduction
The US House of Representatives passed the bipartisan Save Our Sequoias Act by a voice vote on 16 March in Washington, DC, advancing legislation focused on the protection and conservation of giant sequoia trees.
Megafire Action comments on the House passage and said the bill would support coordination between federal, state, tribal and local land managers through shared agreements and the codification of the Giant Sequoia Lands Coalition.
The bill would create a Giant Sequoia Health and Resiliency Assessment to identify wildfire risk reduction treatments in the highest-risk groves and track the progress of scientific forest management activities.
It would also declare an emergency to speed environmental reviews and consultations, retain scientific analysis, allow the National Park Foundation and National Forest Foundation to accept private donations and establish a reforestation strategy for areas destroyed by recent catastrophic wildfires.
Fire measures and Senate companion bill
The legislation also directs the Department of the Interior to implement a Giant Sequoia Reforestation and Rehabilitation Strategy supported by new specialised programmes and funding.
Matt Weiner, founder and CEO of Megafire Action, said: “Today’s vote is a major win for forest health.
“The Save Our Sequoias Act builds on successful action USFS took to ramp up the pace and scale of resilience work after losing 20% of our iconic sequoia groves to extreme wildfire in 2022.
“The Giant Sequoias Land Coalition has made incredible progress and this bill will help finish the job and save these iconic forests.
“Like the Fix Our Forests Act, which would take a similar approach to expediting resilience work on federal land, the Save Our Sequoias Act is bipartisan, targeted, and essential.
“We urge the Senate to maintain this momentum and get these complementary reforms across the finish line without delay.”
In the wake of the House vote, a Senate companion bill was introduced later that day by Senators Alex Padilla and John Curtis.
Fire legislation alongside Fix Our Forests Act
Megafire Action also linked the bill to the Fix Our Forests Act (S. 1462), which is awaiting consideration by the full US Senate.
The group said both bills have bipartisan support and noted that the US Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry advanced the Fix Our Forests Act on a bipartisan basis in October 2025.
According to Megafire Action, that bill would modernise management policies, streamline permitting for high-priority safety projects and establish a Wildfire Intelligence Center to improve inter-agency data sharing.
The group said it wants the Senate to pass both bills as part of longer-term forest resilience planning.