House approves 2026 Farm Bill, which would bypass 2015 'Cottonwood Decision'

WASHINGTON D.C., – The U.S. House of Representatives voted 224-200 to pass the Farm, Food and National Security Act of 2026, known as the Farm Bill. Included in the bill is an act reducing oversight of the U.S. Forest Service by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Montana Congressman Ryan Zinke, who sponsored the act addressing the two agencies’ authority, said it was meant to address the 2015 “Cottonwood Decision” and reduce delays on logging and forest management projects.

The “Cottonwood Decision” stems from a 2012 lawsuit by Cottonwood Environmental Law Center against the Forest Service. The lawsuit claimed that the Forest Service was violating the Endangered Species Act by refusing to designate critical habitats for the endangered Canada Lynx on National Forest lands.

The Canada Lynx are native to Western Montana and live throughout the region.

The lawsuit was fought throughout the court system from 2013 to 2016 and resulted in a requirement for the U.S. Forest Service to update forest management plans with new critical habitats designated by the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Cottonwood Environmental Law Center’s webpage said the Cottonwood Decision “ensures that forest management plans remain up-to-date” and to make sure that “the plan adequately protects the newly-designated critical habitat for endangered species.”

In Zinke’s release about the 2026 Farm Bill, he said that since the Cottonwood Decision, Montana has become the “most litigated states in the country” for timber harvesting. He added that the decision also slowed forest management efforts like thinning and fuel reduction, which play important roles in wildfire management.

The 2026 Farm Bill’s FIR Act, nicknamed the Cottonwood Fix, was sponsored by Zinke and Idaho Representative Russ Fulcher.

“The bill provides a permanent legislative fix to the Cottonwood court decision,” Zinke said in his announcement about the Act.

The FIR Act limits when the Forest Service has to initiate consultation with Fish and Wildlife to cases involving substantial new developments or changes to forest management plans.

“It will reduce delays that have stalled logging and forest management projects, address backlogs, and improve wildfire response and habitat management across Montana and the West,” Zinke said.

The Farm Bill also contains other acts requiring pesticide labeling, allowing Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to be used for hot rotisserie chicken and providing resources for wildfire management.

The American Farmland Trust, a national nonprofit that addresses agricultural land, said the 2026 Farm Bill was very similar to the 2024 House Farm Bill, which failed to pass due to SNAP cuts, which were later made in President Donald Trump’s Big, Beautiful Bill.

The 2026 Farm Bill will head to the Senate next for a vote.