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Interior Department announces $10 million for Arizona wildfire resilience

A small fire burns at the base of a ponderosa pine tree on the Coconino National Forest.
Brady Smith
/
Coconino National Forest
A prescribed burn on the Coconino National Forest

The Interior Department will allocate more than $10 million in federal funds to reduce wildfire risk on about 10,000 acres in Arizona.

Deputy Interior Secretary Tommy Beaudreau made the announcement Monday in Saguaro National Park.

The funds come from the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and this year’s Inflation Reduction Act.

It’s designed for hazardous fuels treatments and to support post-fire rehabilitation work and wildfire science as the West grapples with a decades-long historic drought.

The agency says the funding will help complete 2 million acres of fuels treatments on public lands throughout the country this fiscal year.

It’ll also support the physical and mental wellbeing of firefighters and developing a wildfire risk mapping and mitigation tool.