$79 Million Allocated for Wildfire Mitigation and Recovery

The Department is dedicating $57.2 million from this announcement to help restore landscapes damaged by recent wildfires. This includes $44 million to develop locally adapted seeds and plant materials to revegetate areas that are so severely impacted by wildfires that the lands are unlikely to recover naturally. The revegetation efforts establish a trajectory toward healthy ecosystems. This builds on the Department’s National Native Seed Strategy Keystone Initiative, focused on securing enough native seeds and plants to restore lands and waters. 

Another $11 million will help to reduce the risk of extreme wildfires by accelerating the pace and scale of the Department’s fuels management activities, which reduce excessive vegetation that can fuel wildfires. These projects will include mechanical vegetation removal, chemical treatments of invasive species, and the use of prescribed fire.

This announcement also includes $10.5 million to improve the Interior Department’s preparedness to detect and respond to future wildfires. This includes $10 million to enhance radio communication during wildfire operations — making wildfire responses safer and more effective. This $10 million will also fund more personnel to improve the use of data from remote sensors, such as cameras, smoke monitors, and remote automated weather stations — leading to better wildfire planning and response. 

These wildland fire investments build on more than $780 million previously allocated by Interior under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law since it went into effect in fiscal year 2022. These critical investments, along with accompanying funding for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, are supporting the nation’s wildland fire workforce, accelerating the pace and scale of fuels management and burned area rehabilitation, and advancing wildland fire science. These investments will promote more accurate wildfire risk assessments and mitigation, faster wildfire identification and strategic responses, and responses that are both safer and more effective.