As Trump and DOGE Block Federal Grants, Wildfire Prevention Projects Are at Risk

image via New Scientist

March 6, 2025, 4:00 PM

• •The Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed won several million dollars in grants during the Biden administration to help reduce the intensity and likelihood of wildfires and modernize water distribution in the 1.2 million acre watershed.
• •The Trump administration has begun disbursing some previously blocked payments in response to court orders and public backlash, but its initial moves have caused nonprofit executives to question whether their groups can bank on the federal grants they’ve been awarded.
• •Preparation for the next wildfire season is on hold
• • said Rick Cohen, the council's chief operating officer. "It really isn't hyperbole to say that lives are at stake with these pauses and these grant cancellations.

The Trump administration's on-and-off federal spending freeze is putting wildfire prevention projects in jeopardy. The Coalition for the Poudre River Watershed in Colorado is one of the nonprofits affected. The group won several million dollars in grants to help reduce the intensity and likelihood of wildfires and modernize water distribution in the 1.2 million acre watershed. But now the group is in limbo as federal payments stop and start.

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