Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus Co-Chairs Neguse and Curtis Unveil Wildfire Resource Guide for 118th Congress

Congressman Neguse also shared a resource guide with specifics for the state of Colorado, viewable here. 

Washington, D.C. — Today, Co-Chairs of the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus, Representatives Joe Neguse (D-CO) and John Curtis (R-UT) unveiled their Wildfire Resource Guide for the 118th Congress. The Caucus collaborated with a number of stakeholders and local leaders to develop a guide with useful information about how communities can better prepare for and recover from wildfires. 

View the 2024 Wildfire Resource Guide HERE.

“We are no strangers to wildfires. In recent years, however, our fire seasons have grown longer, and fires are burning larger areas with more intensity. We created the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus to ensure that we are working collaboratively on solutions to these challenges. In the event that your home, family, or community are threatened by wildfire, we want to ensure that you have the resources you need. We developed this guide to provide you with useful information about how to prepare for and recover from wildfires,” reads an opening letter from the Co-Chairs.  

The lawmakers continued: “Moreover, our offices, and those of our fellow Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus members, are here to help. If you lose important federal documents, such as Social Security cards or passports, your Representative can help you. If you need information about evacuations or resources, they can help with that, too. If you have questions about how to make a plan to evacuate, how to access your mail, or how to vote, just call. If your Representative and their staff are not able to assist you directly, they will get you in contact with the people who can. Thank you once again to all the first responders and volunteers at the front lines of these fires for working day and night to keep everyone safe. We will get through this together.” 

After record-breaking wildfires devastated communities across the western United States, Congressmen Neguse and Curtis created the Bipartisan Wildfire Caucus to elevate awareness and bipartisan consensus around wildfire management, mitigation, preparedness, and recovery.

Congressman Neguse, who represents an area of Colorado that has been hit with three of the worst wildfires in state history—the Cameron Peak, East Troublesome, and Marshall Fires—is also sharing a resource guide with state specific information. 

View the 2024 Colorado Wildfire Resource Guide HERE. 

Background

In recent years, Congressman Neguse, who also serves as Ranking Member of the House Subcommittee on Federal Lands, has emerged as a national leader amongst his colleagues on wildfire prevention, mitigation, and suppression. As his first action of the 118th Congress, Rep. Neguse introduced a series of bills to significantly increase investments to tackle wildfires and fund resiliency and mitigation projects for communities impacted by the recent rise in Western wildfires. The package consists of the Wildfire Recovery Act, Wildfire Smoke Relief Act, and the Western Wildfire Support Act. 

Following Colorado’s record-setting wildfires seasons in 2020 and 2021, Rep. Neguse worked tirelessly to bring federal resources home to recovering communities and advocated for increased assistance for wildland firefighters, wildfire prevention, and forest management. In July of last year, he successfully secured the passage of his Wildfire Response and Drought Resiliency Act through the full House of Representatives.  

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