The U.S. Department of the Interior is shelling out some serious cash for wildfire management across the country, and Arizona is on the receiving end of over $10 million of those funds. According to an announcement by acting Deputy Secretary Laura Daniel-Davis, this latest round of funding is part of the greater $1.1 billion national pot provided by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law since last fiscal year.
The money is a boon for the arid state, where wildland fires are as much a part of life as the blazing sun. Arizona has seen over $60 million channeled into its firefighting coffers to date. And it's not just about fighting the flames. Some of this investment—nearly $900,000—has already been used to eradicate buffelgrass at Saguaro National Park, a pesky and flammable invader that Tucson Mayor Regina Romero described as "one of the hardest invasive species to remove" in a statement obtained by AZPM.
Topping up these efforts is Arizona State Forester and Department of Forestry and Fire Management Director Tom Torres, who emphasized the need to transcend boundaries when it comes to wildfires. "Given the fact that there’s so much federal estate jurisdiction lands in Arizona, the need for continued and consistent funding from the feds is important," Torres told AZPM. He oversees a swath of about 22 million acres of state trust lands, underscoring the need for coordinated efforts across agencies and jurisdictions.
Meanwhile, Mayor Romero is pushing for broader federal attention to the broader climate crisis. She's part of a group of two dozen leaders who recently penned a letter to FEMA, advocating for extreme heat and wildfire smoke to be classified as major disasters. "These investments have never been seen before and are very impactful to us here in Tucson," Romero said in reference to the support from the federal government. She argues that the frequency of heat-related deaths, which outpace those caused by hurricanes and tornadoes, renders vulnerable populations including the unsheltered and low-income communities, all the more in need of support.
Should FEMA adjust its qualifications, new funds could flow to communities devastated by these climate-related threats, offering a financial lifeline when they need it the most. Romero added, talking to AZPM, "The longer we realize that climate change is here, it's impacting all of us, the more we spend."
