U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) introduced legislation to dramatically reduce destructive wildfire risk and improve forest health. 'The Wildfire Prevention Act will reduce the risk of wildfires for our communities while restoring the health of public lands in Wyoming and across the west,' said Barrasso.
Introduce legislation to reduce destructive wildfire risk and improve forest health on public lands.
Occurrences
Evidence
On January 16, 2025, Senator John Barrasso introduced the Wildfire Prevention Act, aiming to reduce destructive wildfire risk and improve forest health on public lands. The bill directs the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management to utilize existing resources to increase wildfire mitigation projects and remove red tape hindering forest management.
On December 2, 2025, Wyoming State Forester Kelly Norris testified before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Public Lands, Forests, and Mining in support of Senator Barrasso's Wildfire Prevention Act. Norris highlighted the unique challenges Wyoming faces in preventing and fighting wildfires and emphasized the bill's potential to provide necessary tools for better forest management.
The text of S. 140, the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025, introduced by Senator Barrasso, outlines measures to address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public lands. The bill includes provisions for accelerating treatments on federal land and setting annual goals for mechanical thinning and prescribed fire.
Congress.gov lists S.140, the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025, with Sen. John Barrasso as sponsor, introduced on 2025-01-16. The page shows the bill status as Introduced and the latest action as a 2025-12-02 Senate Energy and Natural Resources subcommittee hearing. The CRS summary says the bill establishes forest management requirements for federal lands, particularly to reduce wildfires, including mechanical thinning, prescribed fire goals, hazardous-fuels tracking, grazing as a wildfire-risk tool, and wildfire prevention technology pilots.
The introduced bill text states that S.140 is a bill to address the forest health crisis on the National Forest System and public lands. It records that Mr. Barrasso introduced the bill on 2025-01-16 and that it was read twice and referred to the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. The text defines hazardous fuels reduction as vegetation management to reduce wildfire risk, including mechanical treatments and prescribed burning.
Assessments
Barrasso fulfilled the specific promise because the promised action was to introduce legislation, not secure enactment. Congress.gov and the bill text show that he sponsored and introduced S.140, the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025, on January 16, 2025, during his current Senate term. The bill directly addresses wildfire-risk reduction and forest health on National Forest System and public/public lands through hazardous-fuels reduction, thinning, prescribed fire, grazing tools, and related management provisions.
Barrasso did introduce the Wildfire Prevention Act of 2025 on January 16, 2025, which directly matched the promise to introduce legislation reducing wildfire risk and improving forest health on public lands. The bill’s stated provisions target forest health, mitigation, and reduced red tape on federal lands, so the core promise was fulfilled in the same term.
Senator Barrasso introduced the Wildfire Prevention Act and engaged in legislative activity to advance it, fulfilling the campaign promise to introduce legislation aimed at reducing wildfire risk and improving forest health. There is evidence of serious effort and legislative action in the same term. However, there is no evidence indicating the legislation was enacted into law, so the promise is not fully delivered.