Sponsors (2)
Creates a Utah-based Interior West Institute to improve wildfire prevention and intergovernmental coordination locally, at the cost of added federal spending and potential trade-offs with other regional programs.
Rural Utah residents and nearby communities get a local Interior West Institute that focuses on wildfire prevention and planning, which should reduce local wildfire risk to homes and infrastructure.
Communities in Utah gain improved coordination on forest health and fuels-reduction work through a regionally focused institute, supporting better prevention and mitigation of wildfires.
State and local agencies in Utah are explicitly named as cooperating partners, which should streamline federal–state collaboration and make technical assistance and project implementation smoother.
Funding the new Institute site will increase federal program costs, which could raise taxpayer spending or require new appropriations.
If existing funds are reallocated to support the Utah Institute, other regional programs or priorities could receive less attention or reduced resources.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Adds Utah as an Interior West Institute location and a cooperating State under the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004.
Official title: Amend the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004 to require the establishment of an additional Institute under that Act.
Introduced February 6, 2025 by Mike Lee · Last progress February 6, 2025
Adds the State of Utah as an official Interior West Institute location and cooperating State under the Southwest Forest Health and Wildfire Prevention Act of 2004, creating a new Utah Wildfire Research Institute location in federal law. This change expands the list of institute sites and formalizes Utah’s role in the regional wildfire research and prevention cooperative framework.