At the tail end of Wildfire Awareness Month and at the beginning of what will very likely be another smokey summer, American Forests has released our updated wildfire policy platform! We are pleased that many of the policy priorities from our prior wildfire policy platform released in 2021 were included in the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Both laws helped increased funding in critical areas and nudge in the direction of a more comprehensive approach to wildfire policy. But, a lot more change is needed! Our updated policy platform builds directly from the recommendations of the Wildland Fire Management and Mitigation Commission which I was honored to serve on. American Forests is calling for policies that: (1) Ensure severely burned landscapes adapt to future wildfire threats through active post-fire recovery, climate-informed reforestation, and the integration of fuel treatments, such as the increased use of prescribed fire and cultural burning. (2) Create a 21st-century workforce to help our forests and communities meet the comprehensive needs for mitigation and management before and after fires occur. (3) Establish new tools, technologies and partnerships needed to enhance an all-lands, and all-of-society approach to wildfire resilience. (4) Track and inform all partners of the effectiveness of wildfire resilience investments to foster durable and predictable future investments and strengthen outcome-based strategies.
Climate change is driving an alarming jump in the number of large, high-severity wildfires that burn every year. In the wake of historic investments from congress, we need a policy framework that will enable the coordinated national response required to address this wildfire crisis. Today, we are releasing our strategy and policy agenda for how we can restore resilient forests in America. Read the report here: https://bit.ly/4aNHMsS #WildfireAwarenessMonth
