During House debate on legislation to combat wildfires, Congressman George Miller (D-CA) offered a substitute measure on behalf of the Democratic party which would have allowed forest thinning projects within a one-half mile of at-risk communities or near municipal water supplies to be undertaken without environmental review. Progressives favored the Democratic plan because it restricted forest thinning projects to areas near population centers or water supplies, thereby limiting the total area of forestland subject to thinning projects (the GOP-plan, conversely, would apply to all woodlands that are deemed high-risk areas for wildfires). Progressives worried that the language contained in the GOP-bill could be used by the timber industry to justify new and more extensive logging operations in forested areas. The Democratic proposal was rejected by a 184-239 margin.