The purpose of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant is to assist at-risk local communities and Indian Tribes with planning for and mitigating against the risk created by wildfire. This program is authorized in Public Law 117-58, ‘‘An Act to authorize funds for Federal-aid highways, highway safety programs, and transit programs, and for other purposes,’’ commonly referred to as the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Specifically, the CWDG is provided for in Title VIII, Section 40803 of that Act. There are two primary project types for which the grant provides funding: The development and revising of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP), and the implementation of projects described in a CWPP that is less than ten years old. The Act prioritizes at-risk communities that are in an area identified as having high or very high wildfire hazard potential, are low-income, and/or have been impacted by a severe disaster.
The CWDG helps communities in the wildland urban interface (WUI) implement the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy):
Eligible applicants may apply for grant funding for a project proposal to be conducted on lands with the following ownership types, provided the project proposal directly reduces wildfire risk to a community:
a. Private lands,
b. Local governments,
c. Homeowner associations,
d. State government, and
e. Tribal/Alaska native corporation (includes Trust lands)
Applicants will have the responsibility to indicate on the application if they meet any or all of the three priorities. The applicant will also need to provide supporting documentation or a link to such documentation for each priority that is checked. Priority will be given to project proposals that:
For more information on eligible projects, see Page 6 of the RFP document listed in Supporting Documents, below.
Estimated Total Program Funding:
