Biden Signs Inflation Reduction Act Affecting Health, Climate and the Economy
Biden Signs Inflation Reduction Act Affecting Health, Climate and the Economy
Biden Signs Inflation Reduction Act Affecting Health, Climate and the Economy. On August 16, President Biden signed a landmark climate change and health care bill into law. The Act includes the most substantial federal investment in history to fight climate change — some $375 billion over the decade, and significant investments in wildfire and forest resilience including:
Wildfire Resilience and Ecosystem Restoration
- $1.8 billion for hazardous fuels reduction projects on National Forest System land within the wildland-urban interface.
- $200 million for vegetation management projects on National Forest System land.
- $250 million for conservation, ecosystem, and habitat restoration projects on National Park Service and Bureau of Land Management lands.
Climate-Smart Forestry for Non-Federal Forest Landowners
- $450 million for grants to support climate mitigation, forest resilience, and carbon sequestration and storage practices.
Urban and Community Forests
- $1.5 billion for competitive grants to cities, tribal nations, nonprofits, and other eligible entities.
Forest Conservation
- $700 million for competitive grants through the Forest Legacy Program.
Forest Products and Innovation
- $100 million for grants under the Wood Innovation Grant Program.
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Sequoia National Forest Restoring Rough Fire Area With Partners
Sequoia National Forest Restoring Rough Fire Area With Partners
Contractors have begun implementing about 1,340 acres of an approximately 4,900-acre restoration project in the footprint of the 2015 Rough Fire affecting the Kings River drainage in Hume Lake Ranger District. The project is a partnership with the Great Basin Institute and American Forests, with funding from CAL FIRE’s Forest Health Program.
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Drill down into more details from the USFS on the Rough Plantation Restoration and Maintenance Project
26th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit
26th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit
Jennifer Eberlein, Pacific Southwest Regional Supervisor, among others, spoke at the 26th Annual Lake Tahoe Summit to reflect on the progress made to restore the Tahoe Basin over the last two decades, discuss current challenges that the surrounding communities face, and find ways to preserve and protect Lake Tahoe in the years to come.
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U.S. Forest Service makes progress on 795 acres of fuels reduction on the Mendocino National Forest
U.S. Forest Service makes progress on 795 acres of fuels reduction on the Mendocino National Forest
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land managers are making progress on 445 acres of fuels reduction on the Grindstone Ranger District and about 350 acres on the Upper Lake Ranger District.
Fuels reduction projects like these are examples of the kind of work and partnerships that the Mendocino National Forest will be building on to meet the USFS ambitious plan to treat millions of acres over the next 10 years.
The goal of fuels treatments is to reduce fuel loadings. When fuel loads are low, wildfire burns at a lower intensity. In the event of a wildfire, areas treated for fuels give firefighters a safer place to build lines to contain a wildfire.
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Preparing to Apply for Community Wildfire Defense Grants
Preparing to Apply for Community Wildfire Defense Grants
The Wildfire and Forest Resilience Action Plan calls for increasing assistance programs and partnerships to help local communities reduce risk, improve preparedness and foster resilience.
The Fire Adapted Communities Network and Headwaters Economics have created a primer designed to help communities navigate the U.S. Forest Service’s recently launched a Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) Program.
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California Fire Safe Council: Community Wildfire Protection Plans
USFS Wildfire Defense Grants
This Indigenous Practice Fights Fire With Fire
This Indigenous Practice Fights Fire With Fire
For decades, the U.S. government evangelized fire suppression, most famously through Smokey Bear’s wildfire prevention campaign. But as climate change continues to exacerbate wildfire seasons and a growing body of scientific research supports using fire to fight fire, Indigenous groups in the Klamath Basin are reviving cultural burning practices that effectively controlled forest fires for centuries. National Geographic photographer Kiliii Yüyan introduces us to people bringing back this cultural practice and teaching the next generation how to use fire.
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Forest Service Invests $55M in 41 Projects To Improve Outdoor Recreation and Conservation
Forest Service Invests $55M in 41 Projects To Improve Outdoor Recreation and Conservation
The USDA Forest Service will invest nearly $55 million in funding from the Great American Outdoors Act (GAOA) to support 41 deferred maintenance projects across California and Hawaii in Fiscal Year 2022.
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USDA Announces $503 Million to Improve Outdoor Recreation and Conservation on National Forests
CalRec Vision Whitepaper
CalRec Vision Whitepaper
Over several months in 2020, MLTPA convened and facilitated an advisory committee of federal, state, and regional participants, which met and produced the CALREC Vision white paper. This white paper sufficiently inspired the California Wildfire and Forest Resilience Task Force to task MLTPA with the establishment, convening, and facilitation of the Key Working Group to deliver Key Actions 3.13 and 3.14 from California’s Wildfire & Forest Resilience Action Plan.
Camp Cinder
Camp Cinder
CAL FIRE’S summer program, Camp Cinder, inspires young women to join the future of the fire service.
Ready, Set, Go Brochure
Ready, Set, Go Brochure
The new CAL FIRE guide illustrates the importance of creating and maintaining defensible space and hardening homes by retrofitting with ignition-resistance or noncombustible materials to protect against the threat of flying embers, direct flame contact and radiant heat exposure. The guide provides information about the preparations and precautions needed to safely evacuate if the threat of fire exists. These new brochures are the consolidation of past materials and part of the new Wildfire Action Plan that incorporates the Ready, Set, Go campaign. Brochures will be delivered to the CAL FIRE units for distribution during public events, fairs, and community meetings.