U.S. to spend additional $490 million to prevent wildfires

Robert Besser
24 Jan 2023, 13:11 GMT+10

The Biden Administration announced this week an additional expenditure of $490 million to combat the growing threat of wildfires in the western US
Authorized by last year's Inflation Reduction Act, the move comes after massive wildfires ravaged North and South America, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia in 2022
In 2022, the Biden administration announced a 10-year plan to treat and maintain millions of additional acres of forests in the western US to ease the severity of seasonal blazes

WASHINGTON D.C.: The Biden Administration announced this week an additional expenditure of $490 million to combat the growing threat of wildfires in the western US.

Authorized by last year's Inflation Reduction Act, the move comes after massive wildfires ravaged North and South America, Europe, Australia and parts of Asia in 2022, which were driven by warmer and drier weather, according to scientists.

"It is no longer a matter of if a wildfire will threaten many western communities in these landscapes, it is a matter of when. The need to invest more and to move quickly is apparent. This is a crisis and President Biden is treating it as one," said US Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.

Controlled burns and the removal of dead wood and vegetation in forest in Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Washington would be funded by the extra money, Vilsack added.

In 2022, the Biden administration announced a 10-year plan to treat and maintain millions of additional acres of forests in the western US to ease the severity of seasonal blazes, with some $440 million being provided by the Infrastructure Act of 2021.

The US Forest Service, part of the Department of Agriculture, manages some 2 million acres in the western US.

According to US government statistics, in 2022 wildfires burned more than 7.5 million acres in the US, causing billions of dollars in damage.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to International Travel News.

More Information

27 ℃

Mostly Cloudy in Seletar

Hospitality

Section

Long-awaited return of tourists finally arrives in Macau gambling hub

MACAU CITY, Macau: Over the Lunar New Year holiday, Macau, the world's largest gambling hub, witnessed a resurgence of tourists ...

As travel opens up, Thailand prepares for 5 million Chinese tourists

BANGKOK, Thailand: Following China's reopening and the end of its strict COVID-19 restrictions, businesses on Thailand's holiday island of Phuket ...

Once in a lifetime opportunity for us to play in front of so much people, Australian hockey skipper Eddie Ockenden

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], January 30 (ANI): The FIH Odisha Men's Hockey World Cup 2023 Bhubaneswar - Rourkela has come to ...

Parliamentary panel to take up issue of unruly air passenger behaviour today, MoCA officials to depose

By Payal MehtaNew Delhi [India], January 30 (ANI): Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture on Monday will take ...

Scenic spots in China's Hubei see business activity match 2019

Visitor arrivals in Macao surge threefold in Spring Festival

Travel and Tourism

Section

Movie Review

The World's Most Beautiful Swindlers (Les plus belles escroqueries du monde)

World's Most Beautiful Swindlers