USDA is investing more money into reducing wildfire risks in California and other Western states. Gary Crawford has more in This Land of Ours.
The USDA is investing another half a billion dollars to expand efforts to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfires.
“This will continue our work in terms of hazardous fuel reduction, prescribed burn, and other treatments,” Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told reporters Tuesday.
It’s all part of a plan to help 21 selected landscape areas protect themselves against wildfires. But he said part of that $500 million new investment will be for a new program.
“This is allowing us to begin to expand beyond the 21 priority areas into areas which we refer to as the Wildland Urban Interface, or WUI, and this is going to allow us to help build local capacity to provide tools and resources so that we can provide those communities with assistance and help to reduce the risk of fire,” Vilsack said.
California’s Natural Resources Secretary Wade Crawford called the expanded investments, “truly a game changer.”
Sabrina Halvorson
National Correspondent / AgNet Media, Inc.
Sabrina Halvorson is an award-winning journalist, broadcaster, and public speaker who specializes in agriculture. She primarily reports on legislative issues and hosts The AgNet News Hour and The AgNet Weekly podcast. Sabrina is a native of California’s agriculture-rich Central Valley.