What Has Your Congressman Done?
A side-by-side look at the legislative record on North State issues — plus a deep-dive into the Klamath Basin story no one is telling you.
This page compares two approaches to representing CA-2. One candidate has held this seat for 13 years. The other wrote 30+ fully drafted federal bills before asking for a single vote.
We focus on North State issues — wildfire, timber, ranching, water, pest management, and rural healthcare — because these are where the gap is widest. We also examine the Klamath River dam removal — Huffman's signature achievement — and ask: who actually benefited, and who was left behind?
Wildfire & Insurance
Community Protection & Wildfire Resilience Act
Bipartisan bill (with Rep. Obernolte) for $1 billion/year in home-hardening grants and community wildfire defense plans. His earlier Wildfire Defense Act provisions were included in the 2021 Infrastructure Law, creating the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program.
- Focuses on home hardening and community-scale planning
- Calls for a study of how insurance companies could certify resilient communities
- Endorsed by Sierra Club, NRDC, and fire service leaders
National Wildfire Defense & Forest Community Protection Act + Federal Wildfire Insurance Stabilization Act
Two bills working together. The first consolidates four wildfire measures into one package covering home hardening, WUI defense, smoke exposure, and salmon-habitat recovery from fire. The second creates a federal wildfire insurance backstop.
- Federal insurance backstop so rural homeowners aren't abandoned when carriers leave
- National Climate Resilience Reinsurance program to stabilize the entire market
- Rural air quality monitoring for communities suffering chronic smoke exposure
- Links fire resilience to local timber jobs through fuel-reduction workforce training
Insurance Abandonment
Over 1.5 million California properties are in wildfire-distressed zones. Major insurers have fled rural counties, leaving families on the bare-bones FAIR Plan. After the LA fires, FAIR faced $4 billion in losses. Huffman's bill studies the insurance question. Burgess's bills create a federal backstop and a national reinsurance program to keep coverage available.
Timber & Forest Economy
Northwest California Wilderness, Recreation & Working Forests Act
Introduced in the 119th Congress. Expands wilderness designations, promotes recreation trail expansion including the Bigfoot Trail as a National Recreation Trail, and includes working forest protections.
- Expands protected wilderness areas
- Creates recreation-based economic opportunities
- Environmental conservation emphasis
- No sawmill modernization or workforce retraining provisions
American Forest Resilience & Timber Economy Act + Redwood Country Rural Prosperity Act
Two bills dedicated to rebuilding the timber economy — not just protecting forests, but reopening the mills and retraining the workforce. Approximately 95% of timber jobs in rural Northern California left and never came back.
- Sawmill modernization grants for Trinity, Siskiyou, Del Norte, and Humboldt counties
- Biomass-to-energy programs using the Marin Biomass Pilot as a template
- Local workforce training for sustainable harvest and fire-fuel reduction
- Links timber revenue directly to county budgets that lost Secure Rural Schools funding
Jobs vs. Designation
Wilderness designation protects land, but it doesn't reopen the mills that once employed thousands. North State unemployment in some areas exceeds 25%. The bipartisan SAWMILL Act to modernize timber infrastructure was introduced by other members of Congress — not the representative of one of America's most timber-dependent districts.
Ranching & Agriculture
A Record of Gaps
Huffman's legislative focus has been on natural resources and environmental protection rather than production agriculture. He told reporters in January 2026 that wolf management is "a little bit new" to him and that he hasn't yet visited North State ranchers.
- Supports non-lethal wolf management — no rancher-compensation bill introduced
- No legislation addressing Modoc County's $52M+ grasshopper losses
- No bill for regional meat processing infrastructure
- No Congressional hearing called on Point Reyes rancher displacement — despite 11 families removed from his own district
- Initiated confidential mediation that reversed his own 2018 pro-ranching legislation (see Point Reyes timeline)
Five Interconnected Bills
Agriculture addressed from every angle: pest devastation, rancher displacement, wolf-livestock coexistence, value-added processing, and farmland transition.
- Agriculture Resilience & Pest Management Act — Targets the $52M grasshopper crisis with rapid-response pest suppression and rancher cost-share
- Federal Lands Stewardship Agricultural Resilience Act and Federal Lands Stewardship Human Sustenance Act — Addresses Point Reyes rancher displacement, requires Congressional hearings before removing families from federal land
- American Farmland Transition & Small Farm Opportunity Act — 12 Titles covering farm succession, Indigenous agricultural sovereignty, and soil-friendly innovation
- Ethical & Regenerative Livestock / Food Security Act — Wolf-livestock coexistence with compensation fund, biogas composting, and community food access
- North State meat processing grants so ranchers don't drive 200+ miles to the nearest USDA facility
Point Reyes: 11 families, Zero Hearings
Eleven multi-generational ranching families were removed from Point Reyes National Seashore through a $30 million private settlement enforced by NDAs — without a single Congressional hearing. Huffman authored H.R. 6687 in 2018 to protect those ranches, then initiated confidential mediation in 2022 that produced the opposite outcome. The Niman family filed a federal lawsuit (Case 3:25-cv-01976) arguing the decision violated NEPA and the Coastal Zone Management Act. Burgess has filed five formal challenges, written 53 letters to Congress, and has met with The Nature Conservancy to discuss the amended NPS general management plan and the displacement of the 11 ranching families and their workers.
Fisheries & Ocean Economy
Klamath Dam Removal: A Real Achievement — With Caveats
Huffman fought for over a decade to remove four Klamath dams. They were fully removed in October 2024, reopening nearly 400 miles of salmon habitat. This is his strongest North State legacy.
- Led Klamath Tribal Fairness Amendment (passed House 2020)
- Pressured PacifiCorp through public forums and letters to Warren Buffett
- Supported H.R. 7938 (Klamath Basin Water Agreement Support Act)
- However: The original grand bargain included water guarantees for farmers — those were stripped out. Fish screens promised for 20 years remain uninstalled. See the Klamath Analysis below for the full story.
Pacific Coast Fisheries Resilience Act + Blue Economy & Coastal Restoration Acts
Builds on the Klamath success while tackling what comes next: kelp forest collapse, consecutive salmon fishery closures, delayed crab seasons, and the sea urchin crisis that destroyed 95% of bull kelp since 2014.
- Urchin Removal Corps — Pays workers to clear nutrient-starved purple urchins; shells become poultry feed and organic soil amendments
- Heat-Resilient Kelp Pilot — Spore seeding and nursery networks for warming-tolerant bull kelp strains
- Seaweed-Cattle Methane Reduction — Asparagopsis seaweed farming reduces dairy methane by up to 82%, earning "North Coast Carbon Neutral" certification
- Self-funding Trust Fund projected at $4.3–$8.8 billion over 10 years
Rural Healthcare
Broadband & General Advocacy
Supports telehealth expansion and broadband access through larger infrastructure packages. Sits on Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, not Health committees. No CA-2-specific rural healthcare legislation.
- Broadband advocacy to close the digital divide
- General support for ACA and healthcare access
- No bill targeting the provider shortage between Eureka and Redding
American Healthcare Access Act + Healthcare Provider Liberation Act + Senior Independence Act
Written by someone with 30 years in behavioral health and a Master's in Public Health. There is no cardiologist between Eureka and Redding — a gap of over 150 miles.
- Rural provider recruitment with loan forgiveness tied to underserved CA-2 counties
- Telehealth infrastructure for areas with no broadband
- Senior independence programs so elderly residents can age in place
- Behavioral health integration and substance use treatment access
- Healthcare Provider Liberation Act to reduce administrative burden so doctors can practice
The Point Reyes Paradox: How Huffman's Settlement Opened the Door to Oil Drilling
Jared Huffman is the leading congressional voice against offshore oil drilling. He has introduced the West Coast Ocean Protection Act in every Congress since 2015. He has led coalitions of 100+ lawmakers against Trump administration leasing plans. He argues that public lands decisions must be made through transparent democratic processes with full NEPA compliance.
And yet, in his own district, Huffman initiated and endorsed the most significant circumvention of public process in recent National Park Service history — creating a procedural template that the Trump administration is already using to expand oil drilling without public input.
This is not a theoretical concern. The precedent is already being invoked.
The 6-Step Template: Point Reyes → Oil Drilling
Each step at Point Reyes has a direct parallel in oil and gas leasing.
Step 1: Complete full NEPA process
NPS spent 4 years on a public EIS with 9,000+ comments, issued the 2021 ROD authorizing 20-year ranch leases.
BOEM had 45 years of NEPA-reviewed 5-year programs
Every prior offshore leasing program since 1980 included a Programmatic EIS — under every administration of both parties.
Step 2: Use litigation to trigger closed-door mediation
Environmental groups sued. Instead of defending its own ROD in court, NPS entered 2.5 years of secret mediation with NDAs.
Use statutory mandates to bypass NEPA entirely
The One Big Beautiful Bill Act mandates 30 offshore lease sales through 2040. Interior says NEPA is "inapplicable" because the decision is already made by statute.
Step 3: Private entity funds the outcome
TNC provided ~$30M in private money to buy out ranchers. Congress never appropriated funds. No Congressional oversight.
Private oil companies fund lease infrastructure
If a conservation nonprofit can fund removal of leaseholders from federal land without Congressional authorization, an oil company can fund installation of drilling rigs through the same mechanism.
Step 4: Issue Revised ROD reversing original decision — no new NEPA
NPS reversed the 2021 ROD without supplemental EIS, public scoping, or public comment. Decision announced as fait accompli.
BOEM skips Programmatic EIS for first time in history
Nov. 2025: For the first time since 1980, BOEM announced no Programmatic EIS for the 11th OCS Leasing Program. Point Reyes proved agencies can reverse completed NEPA without new review.
Step 5: Private entity gets 45-year management authority
TNC received a cooperative agreement and lease option for 16,000 acres of national seashore for up to 45 years.
Oil companies get long-term drilling leases on public waters
The 11th OCS Program proposes up to 34 lease sales across federal waters — including 6 off the California coast, with first sales targeted for 2027.
What He Says vs. What He Did
On Public Process
What Huffman says about drilling"The administration is also trying to sidestep public meetings, perhaps because of the immense backlash to similar plans in 2018!"
What Huffman did at Point ReyesInitiated 2.5 years of secret mediation that sidestepped all public meetings. The only public meeting (Jan. 11, 2025 at Dance Palace) occurred three days after the decision was already final.
On NEPA Compliance
What Huffman says about drillingHis office says BOEM skipping NEPA "sets a dangerous precedent for all environmental decisions across America" and "upends decades of precedent."
What Huffman did at Point ReyesEndorsed a Revised ROD that completely reversed the 2021 ROD — the product of a full EIS with 9,000+ comments — without any new NEPA review. The Niman lawsuit alleges this violated NEPA.
On Private Money Replacing Congressional Authority
What Huffman says about drillingCriticizes the OBBBA for allowing private industry to dictate drilling locations, argues decisions about public lands require Congressional oversight of funding.
What Huffman did at Point ReyesTNC provided ~$30M in private funds. Congress never appropriated money for rancher removal. Huffman's own 2018 bill directed the opposite outcome. Private money replaced the Congressional appropriations process.
On NDAs and Transparency
What Huffman says about drillingCondemns the Trump administration for conducting the 11th OCS Program "without public transparency" and for emergency permits that "silence the public."
What Huffman did at Point ReyesTNC enforced NDAs on ranching families during negotiations. Families couldn't compare offers, coordinate, or seek collective legal counsel. The community learned what happened to their neighbors only after the deal was announced.
On Agency Capture by Private Interests
What Huffman says about drillingDescribes Trump energy policy as "the fox in the henhouse." Calls the OBBBA what you'd get "if Big Oil, Wall Street, and MAGA cultists locked themselves in a room to write a wish list."
What Huffman did at Point ReyesTNC simultaneously served as mediator, funder, and beneficiary — receiving a 45-year lease on 16,000 acres of the land it helped vacate. The entity writing the deal profited from the deal.
It's Already Happening
The precedent is not theoretical. These events have already occurred.
BOEM Declares NEPA "Not Applicable"
Interior spokesperson: "BOEM does not have sufficient discretion to affect the outcome — NEPA is inapplicable." Same structural argument as Point Reyes: when the decision is already made, NEPA doesn't apply.
First Five-Year Program Without EIS
For the first time since 1980, BOEM will not prepare a Programmatic EIS for the 11th National OCS Leasing Program. Every prior program under every president included NEPA analysis.
California Coast Lease Nominations
BOEM issued Calls for Information and Nominations for offshore leasing in Central and Southern California planning areas. Six California lease sales proposed, first targeted for 2027.
80-Million-Acre Gulf Lease Sale
First of 30 OBBBA-mandated lease sales held with zero NEPA compliance. Earthjustice, Sierra Club, NRDC, and Center for Biological Diversity filed suit — some of the same groups who triggered the Point Reyes mediation that bypassed NEPA.
Sable Offshore: Federal Preemption
When Santa Barbara County denied Sable Offshore's pipeline permit, the Trump administration reclassified the pipeline as "interstate" within one day — stripping California's regulatory authority.
Emergency Permits Bypass ESA & NHPA
Under a declared "National Energy Emergency," DOI issued procedures allowing oil, gas, and mining projects to bypass NEPA, the Endangered Species Act, and the National Historic Preservation Act.
Sources: E&E News/Politico (Nov. 2025); BOEM OCS Leasing Program announcements; Earthjustice litigation filings (Dec. 2025); House Natural Resources Committee press releases; Niman v. NPS, Case 3:25-cv-01976; One Big Beautiful Bill Act, Pub. L. 119-21
The Legal Trap Huffman Built for Himself
If the Point Reyes Revised ROD is upheld in court, it establishes that agencies can reverse completed NEPA decisions through private settlement — exactly what the oil industry needs. If it's struck down, Huffman's own endorsed action is invalidated.
Huffman needs his own endorsed action to fail in order to preserve the legal framework he relies on to fight offshore drilling.
The coast deserves a representative who understands that the rules protecting the environment are only as strong as their application to every decision — not just the ones we disagree with.
Legislative Depth by Issue
Not promises. Not press releases. Actual bill text addressing North State communities.
Bars reflect specificity and depth of actual legislation on each North State topic. Huffman's Klamath achievement and coastal conservation work are genuine. This scorecard is an editorial assessment by the Burgess campaign, sourced from public records.
The Klamath Story They're Not Telling You
The removal of four dams from the Klamath River — completed October 2024 — was the largest dam removal in U.S. history. It was a genuine achievement for tribal rights and salmon restoration. Huffman played a significant and sustained role.
But the full story is more complicated. The original 2010 settlement was a grand bargain: dam removal for tribes AND water guarantees for farmers. When Congress failed to pass that package, the deal was split apart. Dam removal went forward. The farmer provisions were stripped out.
Huffman championed the dam removal half aggressively. He did not fight with the same intensity for the farmer half. This created an asymmetry: some constituents got what they needed. Others were left behind. One tribal constituent — the Hoopa Valley Tribe — was overridden entirely.
Who Got What They Needed?
Yurok Tribe
CA-2 constituents. Largest tribe in California. Salmon is central to their culture, economy, and food sovereignty. Dams removed. Habitat reopened. Huffman fought hard for them.
Karuk Tribe
CA-2 constituents in Siskiyou and Humboldt counties. Supported dam removal and were active advocates. Received sustained public support from Huffman.
Hoopa Valley Tribe
CA-2 constituents in Humboldt County. Opposed the settlement framework, arguing it subordinated their senior water rights. The National Congress of American Indians supported the Hoopa position. Huffman backed the framework the Hoopa rejected. Their legal strategy was ultimately vindicated — dams were removed through FERC without trading away tribal rights, exactly as Hoopa argued. Huffman never acknowledged this.
Siskiyou County Farmers
CA-2 constituents. The original KBRA guaranteed 330,000 acre-feet of water for irrigators. When the deal was split, those guarantees disappeared. No standalone legislation from Huffman to restore them. Fish screens promised for 20 years are still not installed as of 2026.
Siskiyou County Residents
CA-2 constituents. Nearly 80% opposed dam removal in a 2010 advisory vote. Filed 130-page criticisms of the federal EIS. Lost lakefront property values, reservoir recreation, firefighting water supply, and PacifiCorp tax revenue. Huffman told E&E News their opposition was "an alternate universe."
Del Norte & Siskiyou Ratepayers
CA-2 constituents. Paid $3.4 million combined in PacifiCorp surcharges for a project many of them opposed. California taxpayers contributed $250 million in Prop 1 bonds.
Key Findings
The Grand Bargain Was Designed to Be Inseparable
The 2010 framework had three interlocking agreements. Dam removal was the incentive for tribes. Water guarantees were the incentive for farmers. The Klamath Tribes agreed not to exercise their senior water rights in exchange for land and dam removal. Farmers agreed to support dam removal in exchange for water security. Neither side was supposed to get its piece without the other side getting theirs.
Source: Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (2010); CRS Report R42158
Republicans Killed the Full Deal — But Huffman Only Rescued Half
House Republicans — particularly Doug LaMalfa and Tom McClintock — blocked the KBRA in Congress. When it expired in 2016, the deal was restructured. Dam removal went through FERC (no Congressional vote needed). The water guarantees, drought mitigation, fish screens, and the Klamath Tribes' 90,000-acre Mazama Tree Farm — all gone. Huffman championed the restructured dam removal with full energy. There is no record of him introducing standalone legislation to restore the water provisions.
Source: High Country News (2016); Huffman press releases; FERC proceedings
The Hoopa Valley Tribe Was Right
The Hoopa argued that dam removal could be achieved through existing FERC processes without trading away tribal water rights in the expensive KBRA framework. That is exactly what happened. Chairman Leonard Masten stated in 2010: "The settlements undermine tribal water rights, do not assure dam removal, and rely on unfunded and unspecific fishery restoration goals." The Hoopa's position was vindicated by events. Huffman never acknowledged this.
Source: Hoopa Valley Tribe official statements; NCAI resolutions; Schlosser litigation filings
Promises Remain Unfulfilled in 2026
Fish screens promised for two decades have not been installed. Salmon are entering irrigation canals and dying. The Klamath Water Users Association and the Klamath Tribes — rare allies — are both calling for immediate installation. H.R. 7938 authorized the work in December 2024, but authorization is not funding. Under current Interior Department budget cuts, the money may never arrive.
Source: KWUA statement (Nov. 2025); Klamath Tribes public call to action; H.R. 7938 text
What Lost When the KBRA Expired
❌ Guaranteed water allocations for irrigators (330,000 acre-feet)
❌ $500+ million in fisheries restoration and drought mitigation
❌ Klamath Tribes' 90,000-acre Mazama Tree Farm
❌ Klamath Basin Coordinating Council for water management
❌ Upper Klamath Basin Comprehensive Agreement funding
❌ Tribal agreement not to exercise senior water rights against irrigation
Source: KBRA text; CRS analysis IF11616; High Country News
The Pattern: Klamath & Point Reyes
Two different places. The same structural story.
A Timeline That Tells the Story
Huffman Authors H.R. 6687 to Protect Point Reyes Ranching
Passes the House. Dies in the Senate. Huffman states: "I will stake my environmental credibility on this bill any day of the week." The bill affirms Congress's intent to maintain working dairies and ranches.
Huffman pro-ranchingNPS Issues Record of Decision: 20-Year Ranch Leases
After a four-year public process with 9,000+ comments, NPS selects Alternative B — the option Huffman supported. Ranching families breathe relief.
Public process completedHuffman Initiates Confidential Mediation
Environmental groups sue to block the 2021 ROD. Without any public statement, Huffman initiates confidential mediation that will reverse the outcome he championed for four years. Invites The Nature Conservancy in to help finance the decision.
No public disclosureGrasshoppers Devastate Modoc County
Ranchers suffer $52 million+ in losses. Federal pest suppression was delayed. No targeted federal response legislation from CA-2's representative.
No bill introducedKlamath Dams Fully Removed
Four dams removed ahead of schedule and on budget. Nearly 400 miles of salmon habitat reopened. A genuine victory. Water guarantees for farmers remain unfulfilled.
✓ Huffman achievementPoint Reyes Settlement Announced
In the final days of the Biden administration, the Revised ROD eliminates ranching. TNC provides $30M. NDAs silence the families. No new EIS, no public hearings, no supplemental NEPA review. The structural opposite of what Huffman championed from 2018–2021.
Reversed his own positionNiman Family Files Federal Lawsuit
Nicolette and William Niman file Case 3:25-cv-01976 in Northern District of California, arguing the Revised ROD violates NEPA and the Coastal Zone Management Act and that NPS refused to consider continuing ranching on the land.
Niman v. NPS filedKlamath Fish Screens Still Missing
Both the Klamath Water Users Association AND the Klamath Tribes report salmon entering irrigation canals without protection. Promises made for two decades remain unfunded despite H.R. 7938 authorization.
Authorized, not fundedBurgess Visits Alturas, Modoc County
Arrives with 29 draft bills and background research on the grasshopper pest incident and slaughterhouse needs to discuss with locals. Meets with locals to discuss relevant issues as part of his campaign research weeks before Huffman's first visit.
Brought legislation, not a cameraTNC Brings Cattle Back to Point Reyes
Just 12 months after the settlement removed the ranchers, TNC solicits open bids for cattle grazing on the same land. The original 11 families were not offered right of first refusal.
TNC reintroduces cattle without displaced familiesHuffman Visits Alturas for the First Time
Tells reporters the wolf issue is "a little bit new" to him. Says he needs to "get a little smarter" and hasn't visited any ranchers in the expanded district.
Self-described "learning curve"SBA Disaster Declaration: Modoc, Shasta, Siskiyou, Trinity
Severe storms hit the North State. Four CA-2 counties enter SBA disaster status. Burgess had drafted disaster resilience provisions months earlier.
Legislation pre-draftedThe Question Isn't Party.
It's Who Did He Fight For?
Rep. Huffman fought hard for the Yurok and Karuk tribes and for dam removal. He deserves that credit. But he did not fight with the same intensity for Siskiyou farmers who lost their water guarantees, for the Hoopa Valley Tribe whose sovereignty he overrode, for Point Reyes ranchers whose leases he helped eliminate, for Modoc ranchers devastated by grasshoppers, or for rural communities abandoned by insurance companies.
After 13 years, there is no targeted federal legislation for timber revival, agricultural pest management, rancher displacement, rural healthcare access, or wildfire insurance in the North State.
Gregory Burgess is running as No Party Preference with a $100,000 budget and a platform called "An Honest Economy for All" — 30+ fully drafted bills you can read word-for-word before you vote.
Other candidates tell you what they believe.
This one shows you what he's written.