• In a Sept. 26 statement, U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) commented on the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Bureau of Prisons’ (BOP) recent cancellations of bargaining agreement contracts with correctional workers nationwide, including at the Federal Correctional Complex (FCC), Lompoc. The canceled contracts will impact about 35,000 employees nationally, according to Carbajal’s office. “Stripping correctional officers of their collective bargaining rights will only undermine morale, recruitment, and retention at a time when staff stability and safety are critical,” Carbajal stated. “I stand firmly with the correctional workers at FCC Lompoc and will push for the restoration of their bargaining rights.” In April, Carbajal co-sponsored the bipartisan Prison Staffing Reform Act, which directs BOP to conduct a review of prisons’ understaffing issues, devise a three-year plan to fill vacancies, and implement the plan, as well as submit yearly progress reports to Congress.
•U.S. Sens. Alex Padilla (D-California) and Tim Sheehy (R-Montana)—co-chairs of the bipartisan Senate Wildfire Caucus—recently introduced The Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act. This bill would allow states to designate accredited nonprofit land trusts to manage conservation easements purchased with federal funding from the U.S. Forest Service’s Forest Legacy Program (FLP). While expanding FLP’s conservation footprint, the bill aims to minimize wildfire risk through “practical solutions to strengthen our forest resiliency,” Padilla said in a Sept. 24 statement. “Californians know that the status quo isn’t working when it comes to wildfire and forest management,” Padilla stated. “Addressing the wildfire crisis requires collaboration between federal and state governments, private landowners, and nonprofit land trusts to responsibly manage our forest lands. … Our bipartisan bill would improve the conservation of private forests to mitigate wildfire risk while protecting important forest resources and habitat and expanding access to outdoor recreation.” Laurie Wayburn, Pacific Forest Trust president, described the Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act as “common-sense, no-cost enhancement” of the FLP. “It will make it easier for private landowners and states to fulfill their goals of voluntarily conserving well-managed working forestlands for all their public benefits while maintaining private ownership,” Wayburn said in a statement from Padilla’s office. “The option provided in this bill will help many states leverage private-public partnerships to get better outcomes while saving money and resources. This bill would unlock and leverage millions in federal funding to help states conserve priority working forestlands, create good-paying jobs, and support sustainable forest management practices that reduce wildfire risk.”
• Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry member and U.S. Sen. Adam Schiff (D-California) was among the 10 senators who signed a Sept. 24 letter to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Brooke Rollins with inquiries about the department’s recent restructuring initiative. In July, Rollins released a memo to announce the department’s plan to relocate certain Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) staffers to five regional hubs in different parts of the country. None of the designated hubs are in California. “Has USDA analyzed how relocating multiple FNS regional offices away from their respective states might impact staff’s ability to provide direct technical assistance to their states?” the Sept. 24 letter asks Rollins. “This proposed reorganization will lead to reduced oversight quality, diminished technical assistance, and weakened relationships with state partners. … Contrary to USDA’s stated purpose, consolidating staff away from the regions they work in makes it more difficult and expensive for FNS employees to get out into the field to do their jobs.”
This article appears in Oct 2 – Oct 9, 2025.