USDA is awarding $250 million to fund 158 wildfire planning and vegetation removal projects to help communities plan for wildfire threats.
“The Community Wildfire Defense Grants are just one of many ways we are helping communities adapt to larger, more complex and more frequent wildfires," Deputy Agriculture Secretary Xochitl Torres Small said in a press release.
CWDG is a $1 billion program authorized in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law for a 5-year span. This is the program's second year, according to the release.
The Cherokee Nation in Oklahoma will receive almost $10 million for firefighter education and prescribed fire efforts. Oregon's Wasco County will see nearly $6 million for fuel breaks, while The Nature Conservancy in Colorado will receive $9.9 million for efforts in Archuleta County.
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Several California recipients are set to receive funding, according to a summary. They include the Butte County Fire Safe Council, the city of Escondido, the Clear Lake Environmental Research Center, Instituto de Avance Integral Latino, Kern Fire Safe Council, Lake County Resource Conservation District, Madera County, Mendocino County Fire Safe Council, Northern California Resource Center, Resource Conservation District of Santa Cruz, Riverside-Corona Resource Conservation District, Santa Clara County FireSafe Council, Seigler Springs Community Redevelopment Association, Trinity County Resource Conservation District, and Trinity Public Utilities District.
There will be a third funding opportunity later this year, according to the release.
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