Forest Service receives funding to confront wildfire crisis, enhance Southwest Virginia communities

Release Date: Sep 17, 2024

Contact(s): Gwen Mason, Public Affairs Officer

Roanoke, VA, September 13, 2024 — The George Washington and Jefferson National Forest’s Clinch Ranger District received $4,992,000 to support fire and fuels vegetation management under the USDA’s Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction management program.

The funding will support expanded resource management efforts in catastrophic wildfire risk mitigation and hazardous fuels management while enhancing public safety and recreational opportunities. Projects will be undertaken with community engagement and collaboration, and workforce capacity building. 

Clinch District Ranger Tiffany Cummins stated, “The objective of the Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program is to collaborate with tribes, communities, and partners to reduce wildfire risk to communities, secure critical infrastructure, and enhance natural resources. We are looking forward to making progress on these goals on the Clinch Ranger District.”

The project area encompasses a large, centralized portion of the Clinch Ranger District. The project area is identified as having a high fire risk and is characterized by rough mountainous terrain, dispersed communities and inholdings and historic coal mining legacy.

 “The George Washington and Jefferson National Forest is grateful for this critical funding, which will help us reduce the risk of wildfires and enhance our Clinch Ranger District facilities and recreation opportunities,” said Job Timm, Forest Supervisor.

The Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program uses hazardous fuels funds from the Inflation Reduction Act to treat additional areas of high wildfire risk where national forests and grasslands meet homes and communities, known as the Wildland-Urban Interface.

In January 2022, the Forest Service launched the Wildfire Crisis Strategy with the goal of safeguarding communities and the resources they depend on by increasing hazardous fuels treatments to reduce wildfire risk. This work includes the treatment of more than 1.5 million acres across the 21 Wildfire Crisis Strategy priority landscapes that is beginning to reduce wildfire risk for some 550 communities, 2,500 miles of high-voltage power lines, and 1,800 watersheds that supply drinking water to millions of Americans.