New Federal Funding Helps Wildfire Recovery/Mitigation Efforts

Gov. Gavin Newsom recently joined Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on a visit to the San Bernardino National Forest to highlight new federal funding for wildfire recovery and mitigation efforts. In addition, the trio discussed state-federal collaboration to tackle the wildfire crisis, complementing ongoing work to build wildfire resilience statewide.

The California Blueprint proposes an additional $1.2 billion as part of a total $2.7 billion multi-year package to step up forest management and other projects to decrease catastrophic wildfire risk amid the extreme climate impacts across the West.

“California is on the frontlines of the climate crisis, experiencing record-breaking heat waves, wildfire seasons and droughts. We’re fortunate to have the Biden-Harris Administration’s partnership in meeting this existential challenge head-on,” said Newsom. “Our state is leading the nation with transformative investments and innovative strategies to protect Californians and the environment. We look forward to our continued collaboration with the federal government to scale up this vital work.”

Harris announced $1.3 billion in federal funding for post-wildfire and hurricane recovery in states across the country including $600 million to support California communities hit hard by recent wildfires with cleanup efforts, reforestation, watershed restoration and infrastructure repairs. In addition, the vice president announced more than $48 million in funding for joint chief’s landscape restoration partnership projects including four in California.