2021 Dixie Fire Night Operations near Taylorsville, California on August 25
Credit: USFS

January 29, 2023 - The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) reports last week, U.S. Senators Dianne Feinstein and Steve Daines (R-Montana) introduced the Community Wildfire Protection Act, to ensure at-risk communities are eligible for federal grants to reduce wildfire risk.

Eligibility for many federal wildfire resilience grants is based on the 2003 Healthy Forests Restoration Act, which defines “at-risk” communities as those adjacent to federal lands or on a list of communities in the Federal Register from 2001.

Since then,  a shifting climate has significantly expanded the threat of devastating wildfire, posing a much greater risk to communities that are not currently eligible for these grants. 

The Community Wildfire Protection Act would amend the definition of an “at-risk” community to be more comprehensive, ensuring communities at high risk of wildfire are eligible for federal mitigation grants.

ABOUT RURAL COUNTY REPRESENTATIVES OF CALIFORNIA (RCRC)
The Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC) is a thirty-seven member county strong service organization that champions policies on behalf of California’s rural counties. RCRC is dedicated to representing the collective unique interests of its membership, providing legislative and regulatory representation at the State and Federal levels, and providing responsible services for its members to enhance and protect the quality of life in rural California counties. To learn more about RCRC, visit rcrcnet.org and follow @RuralCounties on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
Source: RCRC