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Smokejumpers prepare to board plane at the National Interagency Fire Center in Idaho. Photo by Neal Herbert, DOI.

Director’s Report: Expanding Multijurisdictional Efforts to Mitigate Wildfire Risk

06/06/2022

Over the past decade, the Interior Department has invested more than $2 billion to implement fuel treatments that reduce the risk to communities and ecosystems from wildfires before they start and to conduct post-fire rehabilitation to set landscapes back on the path to recovery. Moving forward, we will significantly expand these activities while the work of our partners to restore healthy fire regimes strengthens and extends these mitigation efforts across boundaries.

The Office of Wildland Fire Quarterly Bulletin (content.govdelivery.com)

06/06/2022

The spring 2022 edition of the Office of Wildland Fire's quarterly newsletter discusses the President's proposal for increased wildland fire management funding in 2023, a streamlined occupational illness claims process for wildland firefighters, Interior's five-year plan to address wildfire risk, and more.

A 2019 fire at Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge.

Post-Fire Recovery Efforts Help Restore Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge

05/31/2022

In May, we celebrate Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Known for their lush, tropical, humid climate, the Hawaiian Islands typically do not conjure images of wildfires, but wildfires do occur on the islands. After the 2019 Central Maui Fire burned 10,000 acres, including a portion of the Keālia Pond National Wildlife Refuge, the U.S. Fish and Wildfire Service has been helping the area recover and establish a drought- and fire-resistant corridor.

Homes burned in the 2020 Almeda Fire, Oregon. Photo by Ahturner through Adobe Stock.

In the News: Is Your House at Risk of a Wildfire? This Online Tool Could Tell You (www.npr.org)

05/16/2022

Even with thousands of homes destroyed by wildfires every year, most people who move receive little or no information about the risk they're taking on. Now, a nonprofit research group is releasing a first-of-its-kind tool for homeowners. It shows more than 30 million homes in the lower 48 states (20 percent of houses) have a measurable risk of being hit with a wildfire, and 1.5 million properties have a greater than 26 percent chance of burning over the next 30 years.

Smoke rises from the South Moccasin Fire in Montana. Photo by Lauren Kokinda, BLM

As Wildfire Smoke Increases, Some Populations are at Greater Risk

05/06/2022

As we recognize National Air Quality Awareness Week, we explore why some populations are at greater risk than others from wildfire smoke emissions and how federal agencies are striving to close that gap.

Smoke rising from the Tamarack Fire. Photo by the Forest Service.

Increasing Wildfires Are Causing Greater Air Pollution

05/06/2022

As we recognize National Air Quality Awareness Week, we explore how increasing wildfires are producing a record amount of smoke emissions, impacting the health of people across the country.

Flames rise from the 2021 Ford Corkscrew Fire in Washington State at night. Photo by KS Brooks, USFWS.

In the News: Massive Wildfires Helped Fuel Global Forest Losses in 2021 (www.washingtonpost.com)

05/02/2022

Around the globe, 2021 brought more devastating losses for the world's forests, according to a new survey. Fires accounted for more than a third of the world's tree cover losses last year, the largest share on record.

Silhouetted firefighters. Photo by USDA.

In the News: Department Of Labor Announces Streamlined Claims Process for Federal Firefighters with Certain Occupational Illnesses (www.dol.gov)

04/26/2022

The U.S. Department of Labor issued a policy bulletin announcing changes by its Office of Workers’ Compensation Programs to assist federal firefighters with certain occupational illnesses by making it easier for claimants to file certain claims and improving transparency in how claims are processed.

In the News: President Biden Signs Executive Order to Strengthen America’s Forests, Boost Wildfire Resilience, and Combat Global Deforestation (www.whitehouse.gov)

04/22/2022

On Earth Day, President Biden signed an Executive Order to expand his Administration’s historic and bold efforts to tackle the climate crisis, make our nation more resilient to extreme weather, and strengthen local economies.

In the News: Pacific Northwest Wildfires Alter Air Pollution Patterns Across North America (news.ucar.edu)

04/22/2022

Increasingly large and intense wildfires in the Pacific Northwest are altering the seasonal pattern of air pollution and causing a spike in unhealthy pollutants in August, new research finds. The smoke is undermining clean air gains, posing potential risks to the health of millions of people, according to the study.

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