Virginia is among several states eligible for a portion of an additional $100 million of Inflation Reduction Act funding that will be allocated this year in a competitive internal process under the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program to expand work outside the 21 designated Wildfire Crisis Strategy landscapes, focusing on work with non-traditional partners that represent underserved and minority-based communities to help with project implementation.
This Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program (CWRRP) will be funded by Inflation Reduction Act hazardous fuels dollars, which must be used on National Forest System land in the Wildland Urban Interface, where national forests meet homes and communities.
There are 24 states that meet the criteria for this program, including 13 states in the South, Midwest and East. The internal competitive process allows national forests to demonstrate their ability to move forward quickly on wildfire risk reduction actions that will protect communities, infrastructure, water quality and adjacent landowners.
Criteria for eligible areas/projects in these 24 qualifying states include areas outside the 21 wildfire crisis landscapes on National Forest System lands that meet the Healthy Forest Restoration Act – Wildland-Urban Interface that are within high-risk firesheds identified in the Forest Service Wildfire Crisis Strategy and/or areas with very high wildfire hazard potential.
Anyone interested in learning more about this internal process should reach out to their local Wildfire Crisis Strategy point of contact associated with the units in the following qualified states.
Other qualifying states include Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Oregon, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.
