USDA allocating $100 million to fight, prevent wildfires

The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Forest Service is announcing $100 million in funding for wildfire prevention and reduction projects. Addressing concerns during this year’s challenging fire season, the investment will mitigate the growing threat of wildfires in high-risk areas nationwide.

Wildfire projects will be funded through the USDA and Forest Service’s Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program, which delivers funding opportunities to projects on National Forest System lands, wildland-urban interfaces or areas with a high risk of wildfires. For this round, the program will award 21 grants after an internal, competitive process and ensure that projects were collaboratively designed with the help of local, federal and tribal partners.

A 2023 Wildland Fire Mitigation and Management Commission report was used in the decision-making process for these grants. The report contains 148 recommendations aimed at enhancing the nation’s approach to wildfires and remediation efforts. Projects given grants in this round of funding will advance many of the recommendations made in the report.

The funding, allocated from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will span 14 states and 18 national forests as it expedites wildfire reduction projects. Projects will receive grants up to $5 million from the Forest Service to implement their respective fire remediation methods and further the service’s Wildfire Crisis Strategy.

Projects funded by this round will address a variety of wildfire risks and concerns, ranging from hazardous fuels and biomass reduction to prescribed fire treatments and mastication. Some of the highest-funded projects include:

Sequoia National Forest – $5 million – The Breckenridge Community and Communication Site Fuels Reduction project will thin and prescribe fire treatments to forested areas outside of communities and infrastructure affected by a multi-year drought. Wood byproducts from the project will be delivered to biomass facilities or local sawmills when viable.

Eldorado National Forest – $5 million – The Hazardous Fuels Reduction, Strategic Fuel Breaks and Prescribed Fire for Wildfire Resiliency on the Georgetown Divide project will begin a multistage process involving prescribed fire, mastication and fuel breaks along residential and commercial infrastructure in Volcanoville and Georgetown. The project intends to restore fire-adapted ecosystems, lower wildfire risk and improve wildfire response.

Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests & Thunder Basin National Grassland – $5 million – The Northern Snowy Range Medicine Bow-Routt National Forests & Thunder Basin National Grassland project will reduce wildfire risk and restore forest health in snow ranges and forests west of Laramie. Aside from hazardous fuels reduction and economic benefits, the project will also provide firewood to the Northern Arapaho Tribe through the Wood for Life partnership.

Croatan National Forest – $4.95 million – The Croatan Fireshed Community Wildfire Risk Reduction Program project will respond and revitalize areas affected by the Great Lakes Fire that burned 32,400 acres of land last year. The project will conduct public outreach and education about wildfires along with reducing the area’s wildfire risk through hazardous fuels reduction treatments.

Custer Gallatin National Forest – $4.79 million – The Bozeman Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction project will reduce wildfire risk and restore forest health in the Custer Gallatin National Forest outside the City of Bozeman. With wildfires threatening the city’s drinking water supply, wildfire remediation efforts will support economic, health and community prosperity in the city and neighboring areas.

For a complete list of wildfire reduction and prevention projects and qualifying states, visit the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program webpage.

This funding announcement marks Year 3 of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy and has allowed for significant funding opportunities from the USDA and the Forest Service. This year, the USDA is expanding work on the strategy with $500 million invested and an additional $100 million announced for wildfire remediation, restoration and mitigation efforts.

Salam2009, CC BY-SA 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0, via Wikimedia Commons