American Forest Resilience and Timber Economy Act
Healthy Forests. Good Jobs. Communities That Thrive.
🔥 Our Forests Are in Crisis
Trees per acre today
Trees per acre historically
Our forests are 5 times more crowded than they should be. That's why wildfires burn so hot and spread so fast.
$100+ Billion Lost
Every year to catastrophic wildfires—homes, businesses, forests gone.
80% Fewer Mills
Lumber production collapsed. Mill towns became ghost towns.
We Just Burn It
Trees cleared for fire safety get piled up and burned—wasting valuable wood.
✅ Our Solution
Thin the forests. Stop the megafires. Put people back to work. Turn waste into jobs.
Healthy Forests
Thin overcrowded trees back to natural levels—60-80 per acre. Fires can burn without destroying everything.
Reopen the Mills
Tax credits, supply contracts, and incentives to bring sawmills back to Northern California.
3,000 New Jobs
Good-paying jobs in forestry, milling, biomass, and restoration right here in CA-2.
Tribal Co-Management
Native tribes managed these forests for thousands of years. Time to listen to them again.
🗺️ The Three-Zone System
Not all forests are the same. This bill treats them differently based on what they need:
Old-Growth Reserves
🚫 NO Commercial Logging
- Canopies preserved—old-growth untouched
- Only slash and new growth culled
- Wilderness areas protected
- Cultural burning allowed
Community Protection
⚡ Fast-Track Thinning
- Within 2 miles of homes
- Along evacuation routes
- Near power lines & roads
- 100% treated by Year 7
Working Forests
🌲 Selective Harvest Only
- No clearcutting—ever
- Keep 60%+ canopy cover
- New growth planted with old growth
- Good forestry jobs
🐟 Protecting Our Salmon Rivers
Northern California's rivers are legendary salmon habitat. This bill protects them with strong riparian buffers—preserved and improved green corridors along every waterway.
No more bare riverbanks. No more runoff choking spawning grounds. Salmon runs protected for generations.
35-foot buffers along all perennial streams
Salmon rivers prioritized for extra protection
Native vegetation maintained and restored
Water quality improved through better management
Smart Forestry: New Growth Alongside Old Growth
No more isolated patches of new trees that can't develop proper canopies. This bill requires new growth to be planted alongside existing old growth—creating connected, healthy forests that can thrive for centuries.
🪶 Learning from Those Who Came Before
For thousands of years, Native Americans kept these forests healthy using controlled burns and careful management. Then we stopped listening.
This bill makes tribal co-stewardship the law—not just a suggestion. Tribes get equal decision-making power over their ancestral lands.
Cultural Burning recognized as a sovereign right
Traditional Knowledge required in all forest plans
Equal Authority with Forest Service supervisors
Tribal Employment preferences on co-managed lands
🏭 Bringing Back the Mills
What Happened
Decades ago, Northern California had dozens of sawmills providing thousands of good jobs. Environmental lawsuits and policy changes shut them down. Now when we thin forests, we have nowhere to process the wood—so we just pile it up and burn it.
How We Fix It
$37,000 per worker in tax credits over 5 years
100% equipment write-off for new mill machinery
20-year supply contracts guaranteeing wood from restoration
50% grants for biomass facility construction
♻️ Nothing Goes to Waste
Right now, we pile up forest debris and burn it—polluting the air and wasting resources. This bill creates a circular economy:
Thin overgrown forests
Transport to Bio-Hubs
Process into products
Energy, compost, biochar
Clean Energy
Electricity from wood waste
Compost
Enriches farms and gardens
Biochar
Stores carbon for centuries
EcoPressboard
Building materials from waste
Open pile burning banned by 2030. No more wasting wood and polluting air!
🎯 Starting Right Here in CA-2
Our district is the perfect testing ground—we have the forests, the need, and the people ready to work.
New forestry jobs
Mills reopened
Acres treated
Biomass hubs built
Priority Communities:
Hoopa, Yurok & Karuk tribal lands • Crescent City & Eureka • Ukiah & Willits • Fort Bragg • Potter Valley & Covelo • Clearlake & Lakeport
📊 The Numbers
Annual investment
Saved for every $1 spent
Total over 10 years
WUI protected by Year 7
🛡️ Environmental Protections Built In
Old-growth canopies preserved—only slash and new growth culled
No clearcutting—selective harvest only, 60%+ canopy retained
Riparian buffers protected—35ft along all streams
Salmon rivers prioritized—spawning habitat safeguarded
New growth with old growth—no isolated patches
Wilderness untouched—no roads, no logging
Clean Water Act still applies
Endangered Species still protected
"We can have healthy forests AND good jobs. We can protect old-growth AND thin overcrowded stands. This isn't either/or—it's both."
— Gregory BurgessReady for Forests That Work for Everyone?
This is what "Show Your Work" looks like—real legislation you can read today.