Colorado Firefighting Complex to See Upgrade

Located at the larger site of the Grand Junction Regional Airport, a unique facility that serves as a firefighting resource for Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah is receiving around $6.1 million in funding for site upgrades.

Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland has announced that the long-standing Grand Junction Air Center is receiving that funding through the Great American Outdoor Act.

“By making smart investments in critical infrastructure as well as climate resilience, we will strengthen our wildland fire preparedness and responses across the West,” Haaland said as she announced the funding.

Officially located at 2774 Landing View Lane, the Grand Junction Air Center is a complex made up of a series of buildings and serving as a firefighting hub for the larger Upper Colorado River Interagency Fire Management Unit.

Among its other functions, the air center provides tactical aircraft resources for firefighting support, which includes everything from smokejumpers to air tankers and lead planes.  

According to a press release from Secretary Haaland’s office, the $6.1 million will largely go for “replacing multiple structurally-deficient buildings” at the complex.

Those structures will then be replaced with the construction of a “single, cost-effective building.”

The funding more specifically is coming through the Great American Outdoor Act’s National Park and Public Land Legacy Restoration Fund, which is supported through royalties and fees paid by gas and offshore oil companies.

That fund  provides just under $2 billion a year in support for dam, water, and utility infrastructure, as well deferred maintenance needs in national parks.

By Garry Boulard

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