Representative Jared Polis (D-CO) offered an amendment to H.R. 2647, the Resilient Federal Forests Act of 2015, which would strike provisions in the bill that prohibit preliminary and similar injunctive relief, impose bonding requirements, and eliminate recovery of court costs and fees on lawsuits related to certain forest management projects covered by the bill. The elimination of the court’s authority to issue preliminary injunctions could result in the forest land in question being logged before a final ruling is reached, harming forests, wildlife habitat, drinking water supplies and local recreation economies. Moreover, requiring plaintiffs to post bonds to cover all of the government’s projected legal costs, while also prohibiting plaintiff’s fee recovery, makes accessing the courts a “pay to play” system. This would essentially eliminate the ability of many individuals and organizations to challenge government violations of the law with regards to certain forest activities. On July 9, the House rejected the Polis amendment by a vote of 181-247 (House roll call vote 427). YES IS THE PRO-ENVIRONMENT VOTE.