Sens. Bennet, Hickenlooper Call on Agriculture Secretary Vilsack to Assist Colorado Communities Recovering From Devastating Wildfires
Targeted News Service (Press Releases)
WASHINGTON,
March 9, 2021:
U.S. Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry, and
John Hickenlooper (D), a member of the
U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, called on
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary
Thomas J. Vilsack to support wildfire recovery efforts in
Colorado after the state faced the three largest wildfires in
Colorado history in 2020.
USDA programs like the Emergency Watershed Protection (EWP) program and the
U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) program to ongoing wildfire recovery efforts. While effective, these programs are often hamstrung by administrative hurdles and inconsistent funding.