[Congressional Record Volume 171, Number 30 (Thursday, February 13, 2025)]
[Senate]
[Page S979]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]

      By Mr. PADILLA (for himself, Ms. Hirono, Mr. Moran, and Mr. 
        Lankford):
  S. 602. A bill to amend the Food, Agriculture, Conservation, and 
Trade Act of 1990 to support research and development of ungulate 
grazing land management techniques for purposes of wildfire mitigation, 
fuel reduction, and post-fire recovery; to the Committee on 
Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
  Mr. PADILLA. Mr. President, I rise to introduce the bipartisan 
Wildfire Resilience Through Grazing Research Act. This legislation aims 
to advance research into the use of hooved animal grazing as a tool for 
wildfire prevention, mitigation, and recovery.
  Wildfires in the U.S. are becoming more frequent, intense, and 
destructive, posing significant threats to lives, ecosystems, and 
property. The economic and ecological costs of these fires are 
devastating. To mitigate future risks and support postfire recovery, we 
must adopt effective land management strategies. One promising and 
natural method is ungulate grazing, which has proven effective in 
reducing the fuel loads that exacerbate fire spread.
  However, we still lack sufficient scientific understanding of how to 
optimize grazing practices for wildfire mitigation while avoiding 
potential environmental harms. Supporting this research will allow the 
Federal Government, as well as private landowners, to make grazing a 
core, cost-effective tool in wildfire prevention, working alongside 
other mitigation strategies to protect our landscapes, our communities, 
and our way of life.
  Our bipartisan bill would add the Grazing for Wildfire Mitigation 
Initiative to the National Institute of Food and Agriculture's (NIFA) 
High-Priority Research List. Specifically, this initiative would 
support research and development of ungulate grazing land management 
techniques that promote wildfire mitigation, fuels reduction, and 
postfire recovery. In addition, it would support information 
dissemination of ungulate grazing land management techniques that 
support wildfire mitigation to public and private landowners, land 
managers, and livestock owners.
  I would like to thank my colleagues Senators Moran, Hirono, and 
Lankford for their leadership in introducing this bipartisan 
legislation with me. I urge my colleagues to support the Wildfire 
Resilience Through Grazing Research Act, and I look forward to working 
together to ensure our communities are better prepared to face the 
challenges posed by increasingly frequent and severe wildfires.
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