USDA Forest Service announces $25M funding opportunity to reduce wildfire risk, support local businesses

Press Release

Release No. 0156.24

WASHINGTON, August 6, 2024 - Today, the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Forest Service is announcing a funding opportunity through the hazardous fuels transportation assistance program to reduce wildfire risk, expand and create market opportunities, and support local jobs. This program is available to local businesses and partners that remove hazardous fuels from national forests and transport the material to be processed for wood products or services.

"The timber and wood products industries help support healthy and sustainable forests," said Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack. "Thanks to historic funding from the Biden-Harris Administration, this funding opportunity empowers local communities to create and support jobs while helping the USDA Forest Service implement sustainable forest management practices that reduce wildfire risk and support the Wildfire Crisis Strategy."

Removing hazardous fuels from forests can reduce the risk of wildfires, protects watersheds, and improves forest health and resilience. Hazardous fuels are typically woody material with little commercial value. Although these materials can become useful products or services, the transportation costs are often prohibitive. Without transportation assistance, these materials are often burned in place or not removed from the national forests, increasing the risk of insects, disease, and wildfires that threaten ecosystems, communities and critical infrastructure.

Made possible by the Biden-Harris Administration's Inflation Reduction Act, the grants support wood utilization facilities across the country and the rural economies that depend on them. In 2023, these grants helped remove almost 59,000 tons of hazardous fuels from nine national forests to facilities that produced peeled poles, firewood and animal bedding.

Applications for this grant opportunity will be accepted for 30 days. Public information sessions will be available later and will support organizations in completing the application and answering questions. Project selections will be announced later this year. For more information, visit the Forest Service website.

USDA touches the lives of all Americans each day in so many positive ways. In the Biden-Harris Administration, USDA is transforming America's food system with a greater focus on more resilient local and regional food production, fairer markets for all producers, ensuring access to safe, healthy and nutritious food in all communities, building new markets and streams of income for farmers and producers using climate smart food and forestry practices, making historic investments in infrastructure and clean energy capabilities in rural America, and committing to equity across the Department by removing systemic barriers and building a workforce more representative of America. To learn more, visit www.usda.gov.

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