(NAFB.com) – Deputy USDA Secretary Xochitl Torres Small announced that $250 million is available to help at-risk communities protect homes, businesses, and infrastructures from catastrophic wildfires. The announcement through the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program will fund 158 projects to help communities in 31 states, two territories, and 11 tribes to develop community wildfire protection plans, which include removing overgrown vegetation that can fuel fires that threaten lives, livelihoods, and resources. Last year, more than two million Americans were displaced by extreme weather events, including wildfires. Now in its second year, the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program helps communities in the wildland-urban interface maintain resilient landscapes, create fire-adapted communities, and ensure safe, effective wildfire response. Those are all goals unified under the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy and aligned with the objectives of the National Climate Resilience Framework. Examples include almost $10 million to Oklahoma’s Cherokee Nation to improve fire mitigation.