DENVER – The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has announced several grants for the State of Utah that will make more than $1 million dollars available for reseeding a number of burn scar areas as well as for the purchase of mobile weather stations that can provide real-time data of conditions at burn scar sites.
The first grant is providing $1 million to the Utah Department of Natural Resouces (DNR) for its reseeding program. The funds will be used for post fire soil stabilization and habitat rehabilitation efforts for for areas impacted by the Dollar Ridge, Hilltop, and Pole Creek/Bald Mountain Fires. Efforts include aerial seeding of 38,434 acres with native grasses to also mitigate against invasive species.
The second grant provides $31,375.47 to the Utah Office of Emergency Management for the purchase of two mobile weather stations. The mobile weather stations will be built and operated by the National Weather Service and can be deployed as needed to burn scar areas. The stations provide real time data on conditions that can help develop warnings on flooding threats to downstream communities.
“The Utah DNR has an exceptional wildfire mitigation program and this grant will help extend state resources,” said FEMA Region VIII Administrator Lee dePalo. “This type of collaboration between state agencies can serve as a model nationwide and is helping to protect Utah residents and communities from risks faced after wildfires.”
The federal funding for the project comes from FEMA’s Hazard Mitigation Grant Program (HMGP) Post Fire, which delivers mitigation funding following federal Fire Management Assistance declarations. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018 authorized FEMA to provide HMGP assistance for fires declared from October 1, 2016, through September 30, 2018. Utah had five declared fires during the period and has received $2,125,040 to support areas impacted by the fires. The program has since been permanently authorized by the Disaster Recovery Reform Act, which was enacted in October 2018.
Additional information about the program can be found at https://www.fema.gov/hazard-mitigation-grant-program-post-fire.