Weekly Briefing: June Monthly Meeting highlights: Wildfire resilience, lobbying, and the Fix Our Forests Act

Jun. 17, 2026

Guest speaker Tyson Bertone-Riggs, co-founder and co-director of the Alliance for Wildfire Resilience, graciously joined us for June’s Monthly Meeting last Saturday. Bertone-Riggs brought a wealth of expertise from his work on wildfire policy and emphasized the importance of being on Capitol Hill, in person, to advocate for meaningful legislation.

“When you show up, that alone is a huge message you're sending to Congress,” he said. “It’s easy to get pessimistic about how Congress functions, but really it's extremely human. It's extremely relational. You going in as an authentic representative of the area you're from is really important.”

A key focus of Saturday’s discussion, led by CCL Research Manager Dana Nuccitelli, was the bipartisan Fix Our Forests Act, legislation that Citizens' Climate Lobby is currently supporting. Bertone-Riggs described the bill as "the first to comprehensively look at wildfire issues both around people’s homes and in the forest” and address the need for mitigation in both areas. He applauded the sheer size of the bill and its dedication to harm reduction, response and research to manage increasingly large wildfires.

One obstacle to wildfire legislation is that some constituents still see wildfires as a “western” problem, only impacting states where wildfires are most prevalent. Bertone-Riggs disputes this myth, pointing out that wildfire smoke from Canada and western states frequently drifts over to the East Coast, fueling air pollution in areas like Washington, D.C. 

Finally, Bertone-Riggs offered an encouraging reminder for climate advocates. "If we are too pessimistic about Congress's ability to act, we have let them off the hook," he said. By continuing to engage lawmakers and build broad support for solutions, volunteers can help hold Congress accountable for making positive changes around wildfire management. As he put it, "the urgency of this issue is so high that inaction is a choice."

If you weren’t able to make it live, be sure to catch the recording and learn more about how CCL volunteers can help support wildfire resilience and the Fix Our Forests Act. Thank you to Tyson Bertone-Riggs for joining us as a guest speaker!

Watch the Recording

In other news this week:

• Permitting reform support across the country…: New polling data from Blue Rose Research found that 60% of Americans support permitting reform. The data also found similar support for fair permitting certainty, including half of Trump voters in favor of limiting executive obstruction of energy infrastructure permits, with a +17% net approval rating. Comb through the data and read the overview from CCL Research Manager Dana Nuccitelli on CCL Community. 
   
• …and permitting reform progress in D.C.: Heatmap News reports that a new bipartisan permitting bill has hit the Senate. Though not the comprehensive package we are pushing for, this bill is yet another sign of growing bipartisan momentum. In fact, Heatmap’s Robinson Meyer says, “This is the first time I can remember [this] hard-right senator joining a Democrat to put out an energy-related proposal.
   
• Judge halts NCAR breakup: In January of this year, we sent more than 7,000 messages to Congress asking our representatives to fully fund National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Congress granted these funds even as the Trump administration vowed to break up NCAR. Earlier this month, a federal judge issued an injunction to stop the NCAR breakup. This is great news! While Congress didn't have the capacity to fully stop the breakup of NCAR, the courts could — and did. Get the full story on CCL Community.

Take action this week

If you have a little time: Ask Congress to prevent budget cuts to the U.S. Forest Service. CCL has kept a close eye on proposed changes to the structure and funding of the U.S. Forest Service. Potential funding changes may impede the resources, personnel, and research capacity needed to prepare for and respond to increasingly severe wildfire seasons and to implement key legislation. Ask your members of Congress to prevent budget cuts to the Forest Service as they work on the 2027 appropriations bills. (If you took this action with us during June’s Monthly Meeting, share the link with your network to encourage friends, family and others to contact their legislators, too!)

If you have more time: Prep for Summer Conference media coverage. CCL’s Summer Conference and Lobby Day is a great opportunity to generate local media coverage — but there are lots of steps in between “great opportunity” and actually getting something published. Now is the time to get started by finding the right media contacts, working with your local chapter and laying the groundwork to build a relationship with your media contacts ahead of the conference. Check out this month’s Action Sheet for more information on perfecting your pitch. And for more guidance on getting started working with reporters, be sure to watch our Generating News Coverage training. 

Featured chapter: CCL Greater Detroit

Over this year’s spring recess, CCL Greater Detroit visited local Congressional offices to drop off peace lilies and a poem about permitting reform.

The chapter wanted their leave-behind gift to be environmentally friendly, and specifically tried to think of ideas that would not be discarded or take a long time to break down. “During chapter meetings, we brainstormed a few things but we all liked the idea of dropping off a plant,” said group leader Julie Budde.

The choice of a peace lily was a direct nod to the chapter members “coming in peace” with only good intentions. As an added bonus, peace lilies actually purify the air around them by trapping toxins, making them a clean air plant perfect to represent a group of CCLers.

Chapter volunteer Hailey Hicks noted that a plant would also likely remain in the office as decor, acting as a visual reminder of the group’s ask for permitting reform support.

Hailey wrote the accompanying poem herself. “I started with one line that I felt emphasized a main idea/goal of CCL and then tried to figure out how to craft another line that would rhyme,” she said. “I altered the word choice as I went, swapping out a synonym where needed to make the poem flow.”

Julie was so impressed by the end product, she worried the office would suspect they had used AI. To combat this, the poem was specifically signed by “the humans of the Greater Detroit CCL chapter.”

“I wanted to be clear that we put time and energy and personalization into this, rather than handing it off for a machine to do,” said Julie.

The drop-offs were a great success. In at least one office, a staffer took extra time to speak with a Greater Detroit chapter member. “It was wonderful to have such a positive reception,” said Hailey.

Read the full poem and find more stories of CCL’s spring drop-off successes in this blog.

Upcoming trainings & events

To see other events and CCL trainings, visit the Live Events Calendar on CCL Community.