Wildfire-fighting efforts across the country are receiving a $1.5 billion boost over the next five years, including $228 million in Fiscal Year 2023, the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) announced recently.
The funding, through President Joseph Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL), supports DOI initiatives in fire science, wildfire preparedness, fuels management and post-fire restoration, according to the DOI.
"Climate change is driving harsher heat waves, more volatile weather, and record drought conditions, all of which are exacerbating the threat of wildfires," the DOI states in the announcement. "President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will bring much-needed support to communities across the country to increase the resilience of lands facing the threat of wildland fires and to better support federal wildland firefighters."
The BIL's wildland-fire resources funding includes $878 million for hazardous-fuels management such as mechanical and precommercial timber thinning and harvesting, prescribed burns and installing controls like fuel breaks, "to protect vulnerable communities from wildfire while preparing natural landscapes for a changing climate," the DOI reports.
Post-fire restoration and rehabilitation efforts will receive $325 million to address wildfire damage and create climate-resilient landscapes capable of natural recovery; $245 million in wildfire preparedness, including equipment purchases, financial assistance to local communities and tribes for firefighter pay and safety equipment; and $10 million to support fire science and research, the announcement reports.
Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaudreau announced $228 million from the BIL will be allocated in FY2023 during a visit to the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge on Dec. 14. The funding, the first allocation of several to be made, will support pay increases for federal firefighters as well as previously mentioned initiatives, according to the DOI. The $228 million along with $180 million allocated in FY2022 brings total wildfire-management funding to $408 million, the DOI reports.
In April, the DOI released its Five-year Monitoring, Maintenance, and Treatment Plan, a "roadmap" for achieving its wildfire-risk management objectives through cooperative partnerships to with Tribal, federal and non-federal partners. Beaudreau stated the BIL resources "are vital to prevent future fires, rehabilitate burned areas and properly equip our brave firefighters on the frontlines.”
“In Colorado and across the West, communities are feeling the effects of the climate crisis in the form of worsening drought and severe wildland fires," Beaudreau said in the announcement.
"With funding from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the Interior Department is bringing much-needed support to increase the resilience of lands facing the threat of wildland fires and better support federal wildland firefighters," Beaudreau said.
