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Biden administration allocates infrastructure funds for wildfire management

The Flagstaff Hotshots conduct firing operations on June 6, 2023, on a portion of the Crater Sinks prescribed fire project, located on the Flagstaff Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest.
Randi Shaffer, USDA Forest Service/Coconino National Forest
The Flagstaff Hotshots conduct firing operations on June 6, 2023, on a portion of the Crater Sinks prescribed fire project, located on the Flagstaff Ranger District of the Coconino National Forest.

The U.S. Department of the Interior says it’ll allocate nearly $80 million for wildfire management throughout the country.

Officials say it’ll help expand fire detection and risk reduction, and also improve communication technology used by incident management teams.

A large portion of the funding will be dedicated to landscape restoration in burned areas including a program to develop locally adapted seeds and plant materials to revegetate sites that are unlikely to naturally recover from severe fire.

About $11 million will go to fuels reduction initiatives including mechanical vegetation removal, chemical treatments of invasive species and prescribed fire projects.

The Biden administration is investing about $1.5 billion over five years to support the firefighter workforce and increase wildfire resilience.