Idaho governor signs 'Make Forests Healthy Again Act' in Coeur d'Alene

COEUR d’ALENE — Gov. Brad Little signed an executive order that aims to ramp up timber harvests during a visit to Coeur d’Alene on Tuesday.

Titled the “Make Forests Healthy Again Act,” the executive order directs the Idaho Department of Lands to expand on its partnership with the U.S. Forest Service to reduce wildfire risk in Idaho’s federally managed forest lands.

Active management activities include “increasing timber harvest, restoring watersheds to support the industry, protecting communities, and making our forests healthier, more resilient and resistant to catastrophic wildfire,” said IDL director Dustin Miller.

Sixty percent of Idaho’s land is owned and managed by the federal government, Miller added.

Little’s executive order follows the Trump administration’s “Freeing Our Forests Act,” which similarly calls for increased management of federal forests through timber harvests, mechanical thinning, forest health projects, prescribed burns, fuel breaks and “aggressive yet safe” initial attack during peak wildfire season.

“For too long, millions of acres of national forests in Idaho have remained totally untouched, creating a tinderbox of fuel that threatens communities, air quality and the environment,” Little said. “The state of Idaho has led the country in setting up programs to help our federal partners increase the pace and scale of active management on federal ground. The work we’ve done is making a difference.”

The order also builds on Idaho’s Good Neighbor Authority and Shared Stewardship programs, which enable the Forest Service to partner with IDL "to achieve restoration and resilient landscape objectives across ownership boundaries through cooperative agreements," according to IDL's website. 

Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Fire Chief Chris Way said that such partnerships are vital to local wildfire response. He pointed to the swift response to the Parkway Fire in 2023 that came within 70 feet of a large subdivision.

“We could not do this without our partnerships,” Way said.