BOISE, Idaho — Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior Laura Daniel-Davis was at the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise on Jan. 9 where she announced a $138 million allocation from President Biden's Investing in America agenda to help combat wildfires across the country.
The department is investing $1.5 billion over the next 5 years into wildland firefighting through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law which was enacted in the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With the Jan. 9 announcement, which builds on an overall $647 million allocated since 2022, over half of that money has now been allocated.
The federal agency manages wildland fire on nearly 700 million acres of federal public land, about 20% of the land in the United States. The newly announced funding will support wildland firefighter training, help reduce the potential for extreme wildfires, rehabilitate scorched areas, and work to advance fire science.
“As climate change drives increasingly extreme wildfires across the nation, the Interior Department is expanding the nation’s preparedness to address wildfire activity while building climate resilience across landscapes and communities,” said the Acting Deputy Secretary. “Through President Biden’s Investing in America agenda, we are accelerating the pace and scale of efforts to reduce the risk of extreme wildfires and help affected areas recover, investing in improved science and technology to enable a more strategic approach, and ensuring our wildland fire workforce receives the support it deserves.”
