The funding to improve what the agency calls wildfire resiliency came from the federal infrastructure law passed two years ago.
It’s part of the $468 million the department allocated earlier this year to reduce wildfire risk, mitigate impacts and rehabilitate burned areas across the country, according to the agency’s news release.
“As wildfire seasons become longer, more intense and more dangerous, investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are helping provide for a more strategic approach to wildland fire management and mitigation,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in a statement.
Nationally, the funding has allowed the department to manage fuels — vegetation, small trees and forest debris — on more than 2.5 million acres across the country in 2023, a 30% increase over the previous fiscal year.
The law also will earmark $1.5 billion to Interior in the next five years to boost preparedness, fuels management, post-fire restoration and fire science.
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