As part of efforts to invest in America, made through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law of 2021 and the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) will invest $63 million in wildfire barriers, or fuel breaks, to slow wildfires and protect firefighters.
“For nearly a decade, scientists at the USDA Forest Service and risk management experts have tested and refined building these defensible spaces before a wildfire starts,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said. “With climate change fueling the wildfire crisis, we are investing in this work through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda on an even larger scale as one of the many actions we are taking to protect the people and communities we serve.”
Investments will target projects in Colorado, Montana, Oregon, South Dakota, and Wyoming. Working with local communities, the Forest Service sought to identify fire barriers such as roads, rivers, and other landscape features that could prevent wildfires from spreading. By expanding these natural fuel breaks, collaborators can create safe zones for firefighters to work and undertake actions like prescribed burns to reduce hazardous fuel. In this way, all involved hope to improve firefighter response, protect critical infrastructure and natural resources, including clean drinking water, and support local economies.
All projects targeted by this effort will reduce wildfires in, or adjacent to, high-risk fire sheds outside of the initial 21 Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes identified by the Forest Service’s 10-year plan released in 2022.