Federal Government Focuses on Ways to Address Wildfires
Many of us will never forget the horrific wildfires that seemed to engulf the all of the Western states last year, and with the continued dry conditions and record-breaking heat experienced in these states of late, this year does not portend to be any better. In response, the federal government is taking several actions to respond to the high wildfire potential.
The Biden Administration recently met with governors from Western states and private sector partners to discuss specific actions the public and private sector are each taking to strengthen wildfire prevention, preparedness, mitigation and response efforts. Such discussion aimed to help the federal government understand how to most effectively protect public safety and deliver assistance.
Along with bolstering firefighter pay and hiring temporary firefighters, federal grant programs are providing dollars to help in this effort. For example, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) recently announced that that one of the projects selected for federal fiscal year (FY) 2020 funding under the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program will provide $37 million in federal funds for an innovative wildfire mitigation project in Sonoma, Calif. that focuses on mitigation activities at both the large wildland-scale and the neighborhood-scale in order to build more resilient communities. This was one of the selected subapplications receiving a portion of $700 million FEMA made available in FY 2020 under BRIC and the Flood Mitigation Assistance grant programs.
FEMA also has issued nine Fire Management Assistance Grants since the start of 2021 to assist states, local and tribal governments with the mitigation, management and control of fires that threaten such destruction as would constitute a major disaster. FEMA also provides assistance to mitigate future wildfires under the Hazard Mitigation Grant Program Post-Fire for communities. FEMA regional offices are coordinating with state and tribal partners to highlight the opportunities made available through these grant programs.
In a related effort, FEMA recently released an updated Fire Management Assistance Grant Program and Policy Guide, which applies to incidents declared on or after June 30, 2021, and supersedes the 2014 program guide.
One can only hope for the best that this year’s wildfire season is no where near as bad as last year.
Join us for our following Thompson Grants event:
Federal Grants Forum for Institutions of Higher Education | July 21 - 22, 2021
Federal Grants Forum For Tribal Nations | August 11 - 12, 2021
