The Colorado State Forest Service announced Wednesday that $7.2 million in grant funds is available to reduce wildfire risks in wildland urban interface communities.
Eligible communities to apply for the Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation Grant Program include utility and nonprofit organizations, community groups and homeowner associations that are on state, county, municipal and private forest lands.
According to thae news release, the grant program funds projects that strategically decreases wildfire risk to property, water supplies and infrastructure. It also actively promotes forest health through scientifically based forestry practices and aids long-term ecological restoration.
Emphasized projects include those that:
- Prioritize areas identified in the 2020 Colorado Forest Action Plan.
- Are recognized through a community-based collaborative process; i.e., Community Wildfire Protection Plan.
- Incorporate forest treatments that protect water supplies.
- Administer projects across land ownership boundaries.
- Utilize an accredited Colorado Youth or Veterans Corps organization.
There is a fund-matching constituent to the grant awards where the state can fund up to 50% to 75% of each project’s total cost. The grant recipients are expected to match up to 25% to 50% of the total cost as well. The necessary matching amount is dependent on where the project location falls, whether it’s in an area with “fewer economic resources” that’s identified in the Colorado Forest Atlas. The funds can be processed through cash or in-kind contributions. The CSFS’s technical advisory panel will make funding decisions after reviewing project applications.
Those interested need to propose their projects to relevant county officials in order to secure consistency with wildfire mitigation planning.
The CSFS will monitor each project to reveal the efficacy of the various treatments and the benefits of the grant resources.
Applicants can request help from their local CSFS Field office. They have until 5 p.m. on Oct. 18 to submit their electronic application to their local CSFS Field Offices. Awards will be announced by April 1.
Applications and additional information about the FRWRM Grant Program are available at CSFS Field Offices and on the CSFS website.
“Colorado communities in the wildland-urban interface face the threat of wildfire year-round, and we must prepare for the inevitable,” said Matt McCombs, state forester and director of the CSFS. “I urge individual residents, towns, HOAs and neighborhood groups to take advantage of this opportunity to make their communities safer, healthier and more resilient.”
