Industry’s Got the Mic – Take It Back

The deceptively-named ‘Fix Our Forests‘ Act (FOFA) is picking up speed on Capitol Hill, with little scrutiny and major consequences for our public lands. Your voice, through a simple letter to your local paper, can help expose what’s at stake and slow its momentum.

Why Your Voice Matters Right Now

The ‘Fix Our Forests‘ Act has been quietly accelerating through Congress, passing the House in January, and it will soon be marked up in the Senate as early as next week. If passed, it would weaken environmental review and fast-track logging across public forests under the false promise of wildfire protection. While the logging lobby has the money and momentum, we have something more powerful: the truth and people power. This moment calls for all of us to speak up, loudly and publicly. A short Letter to the Editor (LTE) in your local paper can illuminate what’s slipping past public view and remind your senators that their constituents are watching.

Quick Recap: What’s Wrong With FOFA?

• It would override crucial environmental laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and the Endangered Species Act (ESA), to fast-track 10,000-acre logging projects with essentially no environmental review, public input, or scrutiny by the courts.
• Its so-called “community fire safety” provisions lack funding or incentives for home hardening or real community protection.
• It falsely claims that logging is necessary before prescribed burns, but science shows burning alone is more effective, less costly, and better for forests.
• It promotes livestock grazing as ‘wildfire management’ despite scientific evidence that grazing degrades native ecosystems and introduces highly combustible invasive grasses.

Digital Dissent: Write a Letter to the Editor

An LTE is one of the most effective ways to raise the alarm, and it’s easier than you might think. Just a few sentences to your local paper can show your members of Congress that constituents are paying attention, pushing back, and refusing to let destructive legislation like FOFA slip through quietly.

You don’t need to be an expert to write a compelling LTE. Focus on what matters to you: concern for public lands, wildlife, climate, or your community’s safety.

• Step 1: Use this tool or Google “your town + newspaper + LTE submission” to find submission guidelines.
• Step 2: Pick a recent news hook. Look for wildfire coverage, logging-related headlines, or national news about forest policy. Search terms like “wildfire” or “logging” on your paper’s site can help populate articles to respond to.
• Step 3: Keep it short and powerful (100 – 120 words). Tie your message to the article you found, then make your point: The ‘Fix Our Forests’ Act is not the solution. Instead, support real community safety, natural recovery after forest fires, and forest protection.
• Step 4: Submit – and tell us if it runs! Let us know if your letter gets published. Comment on this blog or tag us online so we can amplify it!

Whether your letter gets published or not, you can still make sure your senators hear from you. We’ve created a printable postcard that you can mail directly to their office. If you don’t have a printer at home, check your local library – many offer free printing. Use the postcard to let them know that you’re speaking out publicly, and that you expect them to reject this harmful bill. The message space is small, but your voice is not. Find your state’s senators and their contact information at this link.

📬 Print and Send Your Postcard
There are other postcard design options available. Reach out to us if you’d like more.

Click on the image to access the printable postcard

Example Letter to the Editor

Need a spark of inspiration? Check out this recent letter by our Policy & Advocacy Director, published in the Los Angeles Times. It responds to a story on the 2013 Rim Fire by pushing back on myths about forest destruction, and calling out logging disguised as restoration. It’s concise, ground in personal observation and science, and ties directly into the public conversation.

Let’s Put the Public Back in Public Policy

The ‘Fix Our Forests‘ Act has bipartisan support. But public pressure, especially at the local level, can still shift the outcome. Lawmakers pay attention to what their constituents are reading and saying, especially when it’s in their hometown paper.

If even a few dozen letters appear across key states, we can reframe the conversation, shape how this bill is talked about going forward. And whether it moves forward at all. We can show Congress that voters see right through this false solution. Every letter, every submission, every note counts.

This is how we shift the paradigm. This is how we fight back.

An LTE isn’t the only way to speak out, but it is one of the most impactful. When constituents take the time to write and are fortunate enough to get their perspective published, lawmakers notice. It shows we’re not just paying attention–we’re engaged, informed, and ready to hold them accountable.

It’s not just a letter. It’s a reminder of who they work for.