CAL FIRE and BLM Join Forces to Work Across Jurisdictions on Forest and Fuels Management Projects
CAL FIRE and BLM Join Forces to Work Across Jurisdictions on Forest and Fuels Management Projects
Through a nationwide initiative known as the Good Neighbor Authority, CAL FIRE and the BLM have entered a statewide agreement and contract worth approximately $4.5 million, made available to CAL FIRE as part of the agreement. The primary objective of this contract is to mitigate the potential devastation caused by wildfires specifically on BLM lands. By joining forces, the agencies can pair similar goals of separate projects on adjacent or nearby lands and further reduce the risks associated with wildfires while improving overall ecosystem health.
BLM Signs Environmental Assessment to Streamline Fuels Reduction Projects
BLM Signs Environmental Assessment to Streamline Fuels Reduction Projects
Taking an aggressive approach to reduce wildfire risk in California and northwest Nevada, the Bureau of Land Management signed the Statewide Wildland-Urban Interface Fuels Treatment Programmatic Environmental Assessment.
Several years in the making, the Assessment will streamline planning processes allowing fuels reduction projects to move forward quickly when funding is available. This tool will be accessible to other organizations that want to coordinate fuels treatments adjacent to BLM lands, such as fire safe councils and private landowners. It’s estimated the Assessment will allow an additional 20,000 acres of public land to be treated each year, bringing the Task Force closer to reaching target milestones in the Fire-Adapted Communities Key Action areas.
On August 8, 2023 BLM officials signed a Decision Record signing to signify the beginning of the Assessments’s implementation.
The fuels reduction project that this Assessment will help streamline aims to reduce the intensity, severity, and the spread of wildfire on public lands by reducing overgrowth, creating fuel breaks and thinning forest density. As a result, communities in and around BLM lands will experience reduced likelihood of loss of life, property, and community infrastructure from wildfires.