"We need to act now": Biden administration unveils plan to address the nation's wildfire crisis

After yet another year of catastrophic wildfires, the Biden administration said it will make an "aggressive effort" to address the blazes in a new multi-billion dollar initiative, the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the U.S. Forest Service announced Tuesday. 

The 10-year strategy, called "Confronting the Wildfire Crisis: A Strategy for Protecting Communities and Improving Resilience in America's Forests," proposes treating more than 50 million acres of land, as well as developing a long-term maintenance plan that will be enacted at the end of the decade. Personnel will utilize methods including prescribed, or intentional, fires and mechanical thinning.

"The science tells us that if we take preventative steps, if we do a little treatment, if we thin out, do a little prescribed burning, we can actually significantly reduce the risk of a fire once it starts," Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said.