Talent Gets Over $1.1 Million In Wildfire Resiliency Funding From FEMA
JACKSON COUNTY, Ore. — The City of Talent has received two Hazard Mitigation Assistance grants from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to support local wildfire resiliency efforts according to a joint statement on Friday by Oregon U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden.
Rebuilding And Resiliency Following Wildfires In Talent
Sen. Merkley drove over 600 miles up and down Oregon when the 2020 Labor Day fires broke out, meeting affected families and seeing the damage firsthand. He described the destruction he found there as gut-wrenching, with homes and businesses leveled and lives lost, leaving entire communities destroyed, including Talent.” Merkley confirmed that the FEMA funding earmarked for the city to remove hazardous fuels will help the whole community to build a stronger, more wildfire-resilient future.
Senator Wyden added that the federal funds will help the city with recovery, response, and rebound. During his visits to Talent, he saw for himself and heard from Oregonians just how devastating the wildfires were for families and small businesses. Wyden said, “I’m gratified this community will get this vital assistance to help it move forward.”
FEMA Grants To The City Of Talent
The money follows recovery from the devastating effects as citizens rebuild and are engaged in efforts to mitigate prospective damage in the future and comes from two grants that support wildfire resiliency efforts, for Defensible Spaces and a Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project.
Oregonians Must Defend Homes From Wildfire With Or Without Defensible Spaces Program Aid
The FEMA Hazard Mitigation Assistance grants will be allocated to:
- Defensible Spaces ($1,038,834.99): Funding for the mitigation of wildfires to local residential and commercial infrastructure, this tranche will go towards reducing the threat to human life and property, specifically for a project to be implemented within 2 miles of homes and other structures. Removing fallen, dead, dry, or highly flammable vegetation material in the project area, the project aims to restore the area’s indigenous vegetation to reduce future hazardous fuel accumulation. It covers 74.8 acres in total:
- 98 acres of Bear Creek Greenway.
- 82 acres Wagner Creek Greenway.
- Hazardous Fuels Reduction ($69,250): Funding the City of Talent’s management costs to mitigate wildfire risks to local residential and commercial infrastructure, the money will be used after the end of Talent’s current Fiscal Year 2024 but before the end of September 2025.
Darby Ayers-Flood, the mayor of Talent, is grateful to the senators for their support in securing the money. She confirmed that mitigating remaining hazardous fire fuels is a top priority and said “ This critical funding will ensure significant progress toward that outcome.”