The US Forest Service has announced the agency is accepting applications for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program to assist at-risk communities with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks. Now in its third year, this competitive grant program is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Individual grants of up to $250,000 can be used to develop and update community wildfire protection plans while grants of up to $10 million can be used for wildfire resilience projects that implement community wildfire protection plans.
The number of projects selected will be determined by available money, which is up to $200 million for this round of funding. Projects must be completed within five years of the award.
In the first two years of the program, 45 projects across Oregon and Washington received more than $100 million in funding to develop community wildfire protection plans and implement strategic wildfire mitigation projects, investing millions in the safety of high-risk forest communities across both states.
In all, the Forest Service awarded more than $400 million across 36 states, two territories and 18 tribes.
Community Wildfire Defense Grants help provide forest communities and partners thin overstocked stands, create shaded fuel breaks, and develop or update wildfire protection plans to ensure forests and communities are better prepared for and resilient to wildfires.
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant program prioritizes at-risk communities in areas identified as having high or very high wildfire hazard potential, that are low-income and/or have been impacted by severe disaster-producing ongoing wildfire-related hazards to the community's safety.
