# Plain Language Summary: Strengthening Wildfire Resiliency Through Satellites Act of 2024

This bill creates a new grant program that gives money to states to use satellite technology for monitoring and fighting wildfires. The federal government will award at least three grants to state forestry officials and emergency managers who apply for the funding. These grants are specifically meant to help states purchase and use advanced satellite data that can detect heat and fire behavior in real time, allowing firefighters and land managers to respond faster and more effectively to active fires.

The money from these grants can be used in three main ways. First, states can buy access to high-resolution satellite data that shows where fires are burning and how intensely. Second, they can use this information to monitor active fires as they spread and to check on the intensity of the burn. Third, states can use the satellite data to make prescribed burns safer—these are controlled fires that land managers intentionally set to reduce fuel buildup and prevent catastrophic wildfires—and to help communities recover after major fires have passed. The program is designed to be competitive, meaning states will need to submit applications explaining how they plan to use the technology.

The bill authorizes $20 million per year for three years (2025 through 2027) to fund these grants. Within two years of the program starting, the Department of Interior will report to Congress on how well it's working, including whether it should become a permanent program. This is essentially a pilot program to test whether satellite monitoring can meaningfully improve how states detect, fight, and recover from wildfires—a growing problem in many parts of the country.

Strengthening Wildfire Resiliency Through Satellites Act of 2024

Pettersen, Brittany

Strengthening Wildfire Resiliency Through Satellites Act of 2024This bill requires the U.S. Geological Survey to establish a competitive grant program to fund satellite monitoring of wildfires. The entities eligible to receive the grants are state foresters, emergency managers, and equivalent state officials. Grant recipients must use the funds for purchasing and integrating satellite data on wildfire monitoring, and for using the data to detect and manage wildfires.&nbsp;