Arizona senators Kyrsten Sinema and Mark Kelly announced more than 340,000 for wildfire training and plans.
Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law led by Sinema and shaped by Kelly provides more than $340,000 to strengthen firefighter wildfire training and implement Community Wildfire Protection Plans
Contributed Article
WASHINGTON – A total of $341,217 will be invested to strengthen Arizona wildfire prevention efforts from the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law led by Senator Kyrsten Sinema and shaped by Senator Mark Kelly.
The investment was awarded to the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) to strengthen wildfire training operations and to implement the 2022 Gila County’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) over a 24-month period.
“I’m proud that my bipartisan infrastructure law supports Arizona firefighters and strengthens Arizona’s wildfire prevention efforts – protecting Arizona families and communities as we head into wildfire season,” said Sinema, co-author and lead negotiator of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs law.
“Thanks to the wildfire prevention funding we secured in our Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, today’s investments will give Gila County much-needed resources for training and operations ahead of this wildfire season,” said Senator Kelly.
Today’s investment funds and implements Gila County’s 2022 Community Wildfire Protection Plan, which identifies high-priority programs to reduce wildfire risk to the community, including subject matter expertise training for firefighters.
Sinema and Kelly’s infrastructure law provides $3 billion to implement a 10-year plan to fight wildfires in Arizona and across the country, $61 million of which will be invested directly in Arizona for the implementation of the Four Forests Restoration Initiative (4FRI) as well as in four critical recovery and mitigation projects: the Museum Fire Sediment Reduction Project, the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project, the Coconino National Forest Cragin Watershed Protection Project, and the Tonto National Forest Cooperative Forest Restoration Project.
Since the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act was signed into law in November 2021, over $211 million has been delivered for wildfire mitigation, resilience, and forest restoration in Arizona.
Sinema led bipartisan Senate negotiations with Republican Senator Rob Portman of Ohio that included Senator Kelly and senators from both parties.
The bipartisan infrastructure law was supported by groups including The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, Business Roundtable, The National Association of Manufacturers, The AFL-CIO, The National Retail Federation, The Bipartisan Policy Center, North America’s Building Trades Unions, the Outdoor Industry Association, The American Hotel and Lodging Association, The National Education Association, as well as hundreds of mayors across all 50 states.
