16 U.S.C. § 6501: Purposes

to reduce wildfire risk to communities, municipal water supplies, and other at-risk Federal land through a collaborative process of planning, prioritizing, and implementing hazardous fuel reduction projects; to authorize grant programs to improve the commercial value of forest biomass (that otherwise contributes to the risk of catastrophic fire or insect or disease infestation) for producing electric energy, useful heat, transportation fuel, and petroleum-based product substitutes, and for other commercial purposes; to enhance efforts to protect watersheds and address threats to forest and rangeland health, including catastrophic wildfire, across the landscape; to promote systematic gathering of information to address the impact of insect and disease infestations and other damaging agents on forest and rangeland health; to improve the capacity to detect insect and disease infestations at an early stage, particularly with respect to hardwood forests; and to promote the recovery of threatened and endangered species; to improve biological diversity; and to enhance productivity and carbon sequestration. adjacent to National Forest System lands; or affected by wildland fire, as determined by the Secretary; and improve understanding of their risk profile; clarify thinking on the nature and effect of wildfire risks; and develop plans to manage and mitigate those risks. To inform evaluations of wildfire risk. To prioritize fuels management needs. To depict the relative potential for wildfire that could be difficult for suppression resources to contain and that could cause ignitions to structures. the Secretary of the Interior; the Administrator of the Federal Emergency Management Agency; other appropriate Federal agencies; States; relevant colleges, universities, and institutions of higher education with relevant expertise; and other entities, as appropriate. The term ‘at-risk community’ has the meaning given the term in section 101 of the Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 ( 16 U.S.C. 6511 ).”