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The Shawnee National Forest Conservation Act would protect approximately 12,700 acres across four designated areas within the 289,000-acre Shawnee National Forest in southern Illinois. The bill would create the Camp Hutchins Wilderness (750 acres) and three Special Management Areas: Camp Hutchins (2,953 acres), Ripple Hollow (3,445 acres), and Burke Branch (6,310 acres). These protections would prohibit commercial timber harvesting and mining while allowing the Forest Service to conduct active management such as prescribed fire, invasive species control, and ecological thinning to restore forest health. The bill also allows hunting and recreational activities like hiking and camping in these areas.
The bill has passed committee review with bipartisan support and is eligible for a Senate floor vote. If enacted, it would preserve some of the largest uninterrupted forest areas in southern Illinois for conservation, wildlife habitat, and recreation while addressing ecological challenges like invasive species that have degraded the forest over decades. The legislation balances wilderness protection with the need for active management to restore the forest to a healthier ecological state.
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Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Oct 21, 2025
Oct 21, 2025 · 13:15
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a business meeting on October 21, 2025, to consider a package of bills related to public lands management and forest policy. The bills under consideration included H.R. 4550 to reauthorize the United States Grain Standards Act, S. 1462 (Fix Our Forests Act) to improve forest management on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management property, and multiple bills proposing wilderness designations and land conveyances across national forests in states including Virginia, Illinois, Arkansas, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The hearing was structured as a business meeting rather than a traditional hearing with witness testimony, meaning no formal witnesses presented testimony on the bills. This type of meeting typically allows committee members to discuss and potentially vote on advancing legislation without public testimony. The bills addressed several distinct policy areas within the committee's jurisdiction. Some focused on forest management and resilience, particularly S. 1462, which aims to address overgrown, fire-prone forested lands. Others proposed new wilderness designations, such as S. 1680 for additions to wilderness areas in Virginia's George Washington National Forest and S. 2548 for the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. Additional bills dealt with specific land conveyances and boundary modifications for national forests and state forests across multiple states. As a business meeting to consider these bills, the session represented an early step in the legislative process. Committee consideration does not guarantee that any of these bills will advance further or be enacted into law. The committee would need to vote to approve the bills before they could move to the full Senate for consideration.
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Reported by Senator Boozman with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Oct 27, 2025
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Reported by Senator Boozman with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Oct 27, 2025
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Ordered to be reported with an amendment in the nature of a substitute favorably.
Oct 21, 2025
Oct 21, 2025 · 13:15
The Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry held a business meeting on October 21, 2025, to consider a package of bills related to public lands management and forest policy. The bills under consideration included H.R. 4550 to reauthorize the United States Grain Standards Act, S. 1462 (Fix Our Forests Act) to improve forest management on National Forest System lands and Bureau of Land Management property, and multiple bills proposing wilderness designations and land conveyances across national forests in states including Virginia, Illinois, Arkansas, Mississippi, Minnesota, and Wisconsin. The hearing was structured as a business meeting rather than a traditional hearing with witness testimony, meaning no formal witnesses presented testimony on the bills. This type of meeting typically allows committee members to discuss and potentially vote on advancing legislation without public testimony. The bills addressed several distinct policy areas within the committee's jurisdiction. Some focused on forest management and resilience, particularly S. 1462, which aims to address overgrown, fire-prone forested lands. Others proposed new wilderness designations, such as S. 1680 for additions to wilderness areas in Virginia's George Washington National Forest and S. 2548 for the Shawnee National Forest in Illinois. Additional bills dealt with specific land conveyances and boundary modifications for national forests and state forests across multiple states. As a business meeting to consider these bills, the session represented an early step in the legislative process. Committee consideration does not guarantee that any of these bills will advance further or be enacted into law. The committee would need to vote to approve the bills before they could move to the full Senate for consideration.
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Reported by Senator Boozman with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Oct 27, 2025
Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry. Reported by Senator Boozman with an amendment in the nature of a substitute. Without written report.
Oct 27, 2025
Congress
119th Congress
Introduced
Jul 30, 2025
No CBO cost estimate has been published for this bill.
