Rural Fire Assistance Administration

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Legislative Authority: National Fire Plan P.L. 106-291 and H.R.2643-Department of the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act, 2008. Authority to fund and implement this program is established by Congress on a year-to-year basis. Funding for the FY 08 RFA program is contingent on Congressional appropriation, and funding is not guaranteed for subsequent years. Project Background Information The RFA program provides funding to improve the capacity and capabilities of rural and volunteer fire departments (RFDs) that protect rural communities and play a substantial cooperative role in the suppression of wildland fires within, or in the vicinity of lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The recipient of this cooperative agreement will distribute funds from Department of Interior agencies, in addition to providing substantial recipient contributions, to various rural and volunteer fire departments throughout Wyoming. Project Objective The RFA program was established to improve safety and enhance wildland firefighting resource capability and readiness of rural and volunteer fire departments; to decrease wildland fire-related losses to rural economies through enhanced local fire protection; and to help reduce Federal, state, tribal and local expenditures on wildland fire suppression, particularly in the wildland-urban interface. Statement of Joint Objectives The RFA program provides funding to rural and volunteer fire departments serving those communities of less than 10,000 persons. These departments must be party to a cooperative agreement with the BLM, a County Fire District, State Forester, or equivalent entity in WYOMING. These departments serve as cooperators with BLM in the suppression of wildland fires within and in the vicinity of BLM managed lands. Individual fire departments will submit application packages to the awarded recipient, which will be reviewed and prioritized collaboratively by a panel of Department of Interior and partnering agency representatives. Deliverables The awarded recipient will request funding applications from individual fire departments. The applications will be reviewed and prioritized cooperatively by the Wyoming State Forestry and Department of Interior agencies. The recipient will collect receipts to verify that fire departments are using the funds for basic wildland firefighting equipment needs such as new generation fire shelters, protective clothing and related personal protective equipment, basic tools and communications items, and wildland training courses and activities. The BLM will audit the purchases to verify that the fire departments provide a ten-percent (10%) matching contribution in the form of cash or contributed services.

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