"Legislation to ease environmental hurdles for forest-thinning projects will likely pass the House in July before facing an uncertain future in the Senate, Rep. Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) said yesterday.

In an interview with E&E News, Westerman said he hopes to convince some Western Democratic senators to support the measure, called the "Resilient Federal Forests Act," H.R. 2936, despite strong opposition from environmental groups.

"That's where I see the biggest obstacle," Westerman said. "I really, really hope some of those Democratic senators out West will realize that this will be good for the environment, good for the economy, and they should really get on board and support this bill.""

Marc Heller reports for E&E Daily June 23, 2017. [2]