On April 4, the Department of the Interior released their roadmap to implement the Wildland Fire Management Program utilizing the $1.5 billion from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for the department’s efforts to address wildfire risk. The plan connects with the U.S. Forest Service’s 10-year wildfire strategy that was released in late January. The coordinated efforts will focus on how the agencies will implement forest restoration, hazardous fuels management, and post-wildfire restoration to improve the resilience of forest ecosystems while also improving wildfire preparedness by local communities.

“Wildland fire management simply isn’t possible without the interagency, all-hands approach made possible by multilevel partnerships across the country,” said DOI Office of Wildland Fire Director Jeff Rupert. “With new funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to bolster these efforts, we are able to better coordinate with stakeholders and partners to reduce wildfire risk to help save lives, businesses, and communities.”

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack started a “rural infrastructure tour” in Boulder County Colorado on April 11 to discuss these efforts to improve wildland fire preparedness and response utilizing the infrastructure funding. Haaland announced that Interior will be investing $15 million in Colorado which will include funding for fuels treatment projects in the Forest Service’s priority landscapes on the front range of the Rocky Mountains.