Congressman Neguse Secures Funding for Wildfire Management, Climate Resilience in Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework

Washington, D.C. — Today, Congressman Joe Neguse, Chair of the U.S. House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, announced the inclusion of funds for wildfire management and climate resiliency from his 21st Century Conservation Corps Act (H.R. 1162) and Disaster Safe Power Grid (H.R. 3209) legislation in the bipartisan infrastructure agreement, as reported today.

“As communities across Colorado face more frequent and more severe climate-related weather events such as the record-setting wildfires in my district last year and terrible flash flooding in the Poudre Canyon last week, it’s more clear than ever that we need to make a major investments in our lands, our forests and our communities,” Congressman Joe Neguse. “For the last year we’ve been calling on Congress to robustly address the threat of catastrophic wildfire and fund climate resilient infrastructure as part of our 21st Century Climate Conservation Corps legislation. I’m incredibly grateful to the bipartisan negotiators for including several financial components of our legislation for wildfire management, climate resilience and power grid upgrades in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework and I look forward to working in the House to provide historic funding for our forests and more fully build the 21st Century Climate Conservation Corps through the budget reconciliation process.”

The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework includes the following Neguse funding requests:

• $5.75 billion for wildfire management to reduce the threat of wildfire, rehabilitate burn areas and support forest restoration;
• $5 billion to prevent power outages and enhance the resilience of the electric grid, Congressman Neguse’s Disaster Safe Power Grid Act similarly aims to address power grid issues;
• $1 billion for the Building Resilient Infrastructure and Communities (BRIC) program -- an additional $500 million requested by Neguse has been included in text of the Homeland Security Appropriations bill;
• $300 million for USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service for the Emergency Watershed Protection Program;
• $300 million for Forest Service Legacy Roads and Trail Meditation, as outlined in Neguse’s CCC proposal; and
• $492 million for NOAA’s National Coastal Resiliency Fund.

In March, Congressman Neguse and Senator Wyden sent a letter to the Biden Administration asking for funding for wildfire resiliency and forest restoration to be included in the upcoming infrastructure package.

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