Arizona gets $10 million from the Interior Department for wildland fire support

The U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) is distributing more than $236 million to support wildland fire management efforts, including upwards of $10 million for Arizona.

Laura Daniel-Davis, the acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior, announced that the award brings the total amount of funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) to $1.1 billion nationwide since fiscal year 2022, with over $60 million directed to Arizona.

“As we adapt to our new climate reality, much of this funding for wildland fire management is already out the door and it’s hard at work,” Daniel-Davis said.

So far, the agency has invested nearly $900,000 at Saguaro National Park for buffelgrass eradication which is a flammable invasive species.

Tucson Mayor Regina Romero called the grass it one of the hardest invasive species to remove.

“These investments have never been seen before and are very impactful to us here in Tucson,” Romero said. “Today we’re celebrating the partnership and the support we have with the Biden Harris Administration and the Department of the Interior as we work towards a safe and equitable climate-resilient future.”

Tom Torres, Arizona State Forester and Director of the Department of Forestry and Fire Management, emphasized that wildfire does not respect jurisdictional boundaries.

“Given the fact that there’s so much federal estate jurisdiction lands in Arizona, the need for continued and consistent funding from the feds is important,” Torres said.

Torres, who oversees about 22 million acres of state trust lands, stressed the need for coordination and collaboration in all aspects of fire management.

“Whether its actual suppression, whether it’s dealing with the after-effects of flooding and debris flow or the removal of buffelgrass in fuel reduction projects, is mightily important and it’s hard work. It’s expensive work,” Torres said.

This funding announcement follows a recent letter submitted by Romero and other government officials to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), urging the agency to recognize extreme heat and wildfire smoke as major disasters.

The letter, signed by 23 other leaders, highlighted the need for federal recognition to prevent local governments from diverting critical funds to address these climate threats.

Romero added that heat-related deaths kill more people than hurricanes and tornadoes combined.

“We want to mitigate deaths because of extreme heat but it also affects health and the first and worst hit because of climate change and extreme heat are our most vulnerable communities, the unsheltered, low-income communities, seniors, children [and] pregnant women,” Romero said.

If FEMA adjusts its regulations, disaster funding could become available for affected communities.

“The longer we realize that climate change is here, it’s impacting all of us, the more we spend and so that’s why mayors across the country signed that letter requesting that rules change from Secretary Mayorkas,” Romero said.

Alejandro Mayorkas is the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, the agency which oversees FEMA.