Over $5 million invested in Utah’s wildfire resilience; projects planned in Washington, Iron counties

25 October 2022

Published by: https://www.stgeorgeutah.com

USA – ST. GEORGE — As fire season comes to a close, over $5 million has been invested in wildfire resiliency and fuels management programs throughout Utah to “prevent future wildfires from becoming catastrophic disasters.” Projects are planned in both Washington and Iron counties.

In September, the United States Department of the Interior issued a news release announcing the investment of over $5.5 million from President Joe Biden’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act to support wildfire resilience and fuel management projects on over 24,000 acres of federal land in Utah.

The investments will increase fuels treatment in areas at high risk of wildfire and are expected to “protect homes and businesses in the wildland-urban interface and public water,” according to the announcement.

“These efforts will promote climate resiliency across landscapes and communities and will employ tribal members, youth, and veterans,” the release states.

$1.5 million, which was allocated for the 2022 fiscal year, was funded by Utah, with the remaining $4 million coming from the United States Forest Service, said Stephen Standifird, who works in strategic communications at the Forest Service. It will be budgeted for shared stewardship projects across the state.

The Dixie National Forest Pine Valley Ranger District received $299,000 in federal funds and $200,000 from the state for fuels treatment projects in the forested areas in Pinto, Gum Hill and Pine Valley, Standifird said.

Approximately $2.5 million was designated for work in the Dixie and Fishlake National Forests and more than $1 million was allocated for treatments to improve watershed conditions and forest health to promote wildfire resilience, Marshall Thompson, a regional press officer with the Forest Service, said.

“While not all of the projected $2.5 million will be directly related to wildfire resilience, much of the work will have an effect via improved road and bridge conditions for heavy equipment or large fire suppression (apparatuses),” he said.

Most of the upcoming projects planned for Southern Utah will be in Washington County, but a “very small portion” of Iron County may also see work done, Standifird said.

These projects were identified as the highest priority areas to reduce the risk from unwanted wildfire to communities, protect critical water supplies, and to improve public and firefighter safety,” he said. “Additional projects on the forest will be completed with regularly appropriated funding.”

Sally Tucker, a senior adviser for infrastructure communications at the Department of Interior shared a list of planned projects throughout Utah, including four in Washington County and two in Iron County. Details of these projects have not yet been released.

The Department of the Interior allocated $103 million earlier this year to reduce wildfire risk and rehabilitate burned areas. And additional funding will be used to complete fuels treatments on almost 2 million acres of land across the United States, which the news release states is a “substantial increase over the prior year.”

Deputy Secretary of the Interior Tommy Beaufreau said in the release that with climate change driving harsher heat waves, more volatile weather and record drought conditions, wildfire seasons turn into “wildfire years” and threaten businesses, communities, wildlife and the environment.

“Through President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, we are investing in Utah communities, advancing wildfire resilience work across the country, improving resources for the heroic firefighting workforce, and reducing the risk of wildfire,” he said.

According to the release, the law includes $1.5 million that will be invested by the department over the next five years in “preparedness, fuels management, post-fire restoration and fire science.”

“It also directs major reforms for federal wildland firefighters, including temporary pay increases and a new occupational series classification more specific to firefighters,” the release states.

A portion of the funding will be used to continue the development of a risk mapping and mitigation tool, the release states. The tool is a joint effort between the Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters and will help land managers to identify potential wildfire risks and share “planned and accomplished mitigation activities.”

Additionally, the infrastructure law increases support for the Joint Fire Science Program, which is an interagency partnership with the forest service and funds wildfire science research projects.

Utah Sen. Mitt Romney released a statement saying that he “welcomed” the funding’s announcement.

I was proud to help negotiate the bipartisan infrastructure bill, which will better position Utah and our country to meet the infrastructure-related challenges of the 21st century. As the American West continues to get drier and years of poor management practices have caused fires to become more destructive, it becomes more imperative that we improve strategies which bolster wildfire resilience and prevent future wildfires from becoming catastrophic disasters in our state and across the West. That’s why I worked to ensure this funding was included in the bipartisan infrastructure bill, and I look forward to seeing these projects come to fruition to reduce wildfire risks and rehabilitate areas already affected.

To learn more about the Forest Service’s efforts to promote resilient landscapes and manage wildfire risk, visit here.

25. October 2022/by GFMCadmin