Wildfire Resilient Communities Act

Wildfire Resilient Communities Act

This bill provides funding and sets forth provisions to address wildland fire management in certain at-risk communities that are within the vicinity of federal lands that are at high risk from wildfire.

The bill provides funding for specified federal agencies to carry out hazardous fuels reduction projects. These federal agencies shall prioritize projects that (1) are conducted in areas that are within or adjacent to at-risk communities or high value watersheds, have very high wildfire hazard potential, or are in fire regime I, II, or III; or (2) are designed to integrate and advance two or more of the goals established in a specified wildland fire management report to create fire-adapted communities, to restore and maintain resilient landscapes, and to achieve safe, effective fire response.

The Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior shall furnish financial and technical assistance to at-risk communities that are adjacent to federal land, including through states, to assist such communities in planning and preparing for wildfire.

The bill makes permanent the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program. The bill removes the limits on the number of proposals that may be funded for ecological restoration treatments for priority forest landscapes under the program. The Forest Service may continue to select the number of proposals that are determined likely to receive adequate funding.

The bill establishes the County Stewardship Fund for making payments to counties that have a contract for a stewardship contracting project on federal land within their boundaries.