Manager’s Message – December 2025

What’s the Fix Our Forests Act?

In September, I wrote about the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act and its importance to utilities like Lane Electric.

Recently, I had the opportunity to join the Northwest Public Power Association and representatives from utilities around the Northwest to meet with staff from the offices of Colorado, Washington, Oregon, and Nevada senators. The meetings were in regard to FOFA and the critical need for utilities to have better tools to minimize outages and wildfire hazards.

We had a busy 3 days.

If passed, this legislation would streamline federal processes to accelerate electric cooperatives’ ability to remove hazardous trees and maintain power lines—all without sacrificing important environmental protections.

Why is this a concern for Lane Electric?

Empowering utilities to manage their systems properly is necessary for reliable power delivery and community safety. Currently, cooperatives can only remove trees and other vegetation within 10 feet of their lines and rights of way.

Look up the next time you drive any forested corridor in Lane County, and you’ll see the issue. A dead tree or a large branch from a hazard tree outside of a 10-foot clearance is a major problem.

Without this bill, cooperatives often must wait for permission to remove a hazardous tree, replace poles, and conduct basic maintenance. The Fix Our Forests Act would allow us to remove trees within 150 feet of our lines, which would make a meaningful difference.

I was encouraged that all the staff we spoke with understood the need for this legislation. While we were in Washington, D.C., the Senate Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee voted in support of the bill, which now moves to the Senate for consideration.

There is still work to do, but I’m happy to share this encouraging step.

General Manager Scott Coe