Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper and Colorado U.S. Representative Joe Neguse celebrated the announcement from the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) that over $9.3 million from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has gone to advance wildfire resilience work and support fuel management projects in Colorado throughout Fiscal Year 2023. The projects treated nearly 32,000 acres of land across the state for wildfire prevention, forest health, fuels management, and post-fire restoration.
“As Coloradans face longer and more extreme wildfire seasons, we need to do more to protect homes and restore our forests. This funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will help safeguard communities in Colorado and reduce severe wildfire risk, but there’s still more to do to match our efforts to the scale of the challenge,” said Bennet.
“From the 35,000 Coloradans displaced by the 2021 Marshall Fire to the more than 200,000 acres of land ravaged by the 2020 Cameron Peak Fire, Coloradans are living the climate crisis today. These Bipartisan Infrastructure Law investments protect us, our homes, and the environment,” said Hickenlooper.
“Colorado has experienced numerous devastating wildfires over the past several years, including the East Troublesome, Cameron Peak, and Marshall Fires which hit communities in the 2nd District. I am heartened to see the investments made possible by the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to assist our communities and continue to deliver for the people of our great state,” said Neguse. “The projects supported by this funding are critical components of our work to reduce wildfire risk, support recovering communities, and to mitigate the impacts of future events for households across the state.”
The funding announced last week is part of $468 million allocated by DOI earlier this year to reduce wildfire risk, mitigate impacts, and rehabilitate burned areas across the country.
“As wildfire seasons become longer, more intense and more dangerous, investments from President Biden’s Investing in America agenda are helping provide for a more strategic approach to wildland fire management and mitigation, greater support of wildland firefighters, and much-needed equipment and preparedness methods,” said DOI Secretary Deb Haaland.
As the chair of the Senate Agriculture Subcommittee on Conservation, Climate, Forestry, and Natural Resources, Bennet secured $5.5 billion in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and $5 billion in the Inflation Reduction Act for forest health. In October, Bennet, Hickenlooper, and Neguse urged the U.S. Department of Agriculture and U.S. Forest Service to swiftly implement funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act to address forest and watershed health in national forests on Colorado’s Western Slope. In February, Bennet introduced the Protect the West Act to make a $60 billion investment in our forests to reduce wildfire risk, restore our watersheds, and protect our communities.