Washington, D.C. — Colorado U.S. Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper alongside Colorado U.S. Representative Joe Neguse, welcomed over $35 million from the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) to support wildfire mitigation and preparedness efforts across Colorado’s Front Range. USFS announced the funding as part of a $500 million nationwide investment made possible through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). To date, USFS has invested over $170 million from these bills in wildfire migration efforts in Colorado.
“I am pleased to see historic funds from the Inflation Reduction Act and Bipartisan Infrastructure Law continue to invest in the health of our forests. This investment in Colorado’s Front Range will help safeguard our communities and reduce risk to our natural resources from increasingly severe wildfire seasons,” said Bennet. “As the West faces a hotter and drier future, I’ll keep working to ensure that forests across the state have the resources they need.”
“Wildfire season has become a year-round threat, and we have to be ready,” said Hickenlooper. “This funding from our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act will invest in making our forests and communities more resilient.”
“Colorado has experienced numerous devastating wildfires over the past several years, including the East Troublesome, Cameron Peak, and Marshall Fires, which impacted communities in my district and along Colorado’s Front Range. As the Representative for much of the region, I am excited to see investments making their way to our state to reduce the risk of wildfires to our families, our towns, and our lands. I am committed to continuing to advocate for all of our Colorado communities, including those on the Western Slope, ensuring they receive the resources they need to prepare for this crisis,” said Neguse.
In recent years, three of Colorado’s largest and most destructive wildfires – the Marshall, Cameron Peak, and East Troublesome fires – impacted communities along the Front Range. This funding will expand work on the USFS Wildfire Crisis Strategy to reduce risk to communities, critical infrastructure, and natural resources from wildfires which have become increasingly severe as a result of climate change. Approximately $400 million of the total nationwide investment will be allocated to ongoing efforts on the 21 designated priority landscapes, including Colorado’s Front Range. An additional $100 million will be allocated under the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program, a new program established by USFS to benefit communities outside of these priority landscapes.
“This important work is already in motion – we’ve seen the impact on reducing wildfire exposure to communities, as well as critical infrastructure, critical watersheds, socially vulnerable communities, and carbon stocks,” said Dr. Homer Wilkes, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and the Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We are pleased with the record-setting pace and scale accomplished by Forest Service employees, partners, Tribes and communities,” said Chief Randy Moore, USFS. “These investments will allow critical work to continue in the 21 priority landscape areas and begin intensively in other high-risk areas across the country that will be determined through new program.”
Earlier this month, Bennet and Neguse introduced the Watershed Protection and Forest Recovery Act to help communities and water users protect their water supply on USFS lands after wildfires and other natural disasters. Last year, Bennet and Hickenlooper introduced the legislation to make a $60 billion investment in our forests to reduce wildfire risk, restore our watersheds, and protect our communities.