# Bipartisan Infrastructure Law invests in our nation’s wildland firefighters

nr_nwcg-iptm-051623.pdf

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Release Date: May 16, 2023Media Contact: Eric Coulter, ecoulter@blm.govNational Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG)

The Biden-Harris Administration today announced the award of a contract funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) as part of an ongoing effort to improve wildland fire management. This contract will allow the National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) to make a crucial investment in our nation’s wildland firefighting workforce by modernizing our interagency training systems. 

NWCG provides national leadership to enable interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners. The contract awarded today will support NWCG’s Incident Performance and Training Modernization, an effort to refine and modernize wildland fire training. 

“Improved position standards and training not only benefits our workforce, but is also an important strategy in protecting communities and improving resiliency in our landscapes,” said NWCG Executive Board Acting Chair Aitor Bidaburu**.** “The BIL funding provides an opportunity to make a significant difference in how we learn and operate as wildland firefighters.” 

The contract will assist NWCG with building incident position standards, developing an integrated performance-based training system, and aid in modernizing training materials and operational tools to meet NWCG’s mission. NWCG will lead this multi-year effort and will generally start with entry level positions. 

The BIL was signed into law by President Biden in November of 2021 and provides $1.5 billion to the U.S. Department of the Interior’s wildland fire management programs to address wildfire risk reduction. By making historic investments in landscape restoration, hazardous fuels management, early wildfire detection, and post-wildfire restoration across the country, these funds will help reduce wildfire risk to communities and landscapes, as well as investing in our federal wildland firefighters. 

For more information about NWCG, visit nwcg.gov. 

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NWCG**-**The National Wildfire Coordinating Group (NWCG) provides national leadership to enable interoperable wildland fire operations among federal, state, local, Tribal, and territorial partners. NWCG members include the USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Association of State Foresters, U.S. Fire Administration, Intertribal Timber Council, International Association of Fire Chiefs, and Department of Defense along with associate members from the U.S. Department of the Interior Office of Wildland Fire and National Weather Service.