The USDA Forest Service is seeking applications for its Community Wildfire Defense Grant – Northeast-Midwest to assist at-risk local communities and Indian Tribes with planning and mitigating against the risk created by wildfire.
Donor Name: Forest Service
State: Selected States
County: All Counties
Type of Grant: Grant
Deadline: 10/31/2023
Size of the Grant: $10,000,000
Grant Duration: 5 years
Details:
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):
- Resilient Landscapes: Landscapes, regardless of jurisdictional boundaries, are resilient to fire, insect, disease, invasive species, and climate change disturbances, in accordance with management objectives.
- Fire Adapted Communities: Human populations and infrastructure are as prepared as possible to receive, respond to, and recover from wildland fire.
- Safe, Effective, Risk-based Wildfire Response: All jurisdictions participate in making and implementing safe, effective, efficient risk-based wildfire management decisions.
This is for projects that will be carried out within the footprint of the Northeast-Midwest States: (Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, West Virginia, and Wisconsin).
Project Objectives
- A project proposal must advance objectives and priorities identified in a community wildfire protection plan that is not more than 10 years old (for this NOFO defined as a CWPP signed during calendar year 2013 or later).
- A project proposal must be designed to achieve one or more of the following objectives:
- Assist a community with planning to address management of wildfire risk.
- Assist a community with mitigation measures or actions to reduce wildfire risk.
Projects to be Given Priority
- 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:
- Are located in an area identified as having a high or very high wildfire hazard potential;
- Benefit a low-income community; or
- Are located in a community impacted by a severe disaster within the previous 10 years.
Funding Information
- Estimated Total Program Funding: $250,000,000
- Award Ceiling: $10,000,000
- The grant term is for a total maximum of five (5) years.
Location of Projects
An eligible applicant 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.
- Private,
- Local governments,
- Homeowner associations,
- State government, and
- Tribal/Alaska native corporation (includes Trust lands).
Eligibility Criteria
- The following entities are eligible to submit a project proposal for funding:
- Units of local governments representing communities located in an area with a risk of wildfires,
- Indian Tribes (please apply through either the Indian Tribes/Alaska Native Corporations specific notice or the applicable regional notice),
- Non-profit organizations such as homeowner associations that assist such communities,
- State forestry agencies, and
- Alaska Native Corporations (please apply through the either Indian Tribes/Alaska Native Corporations specific notice or the applicable regional notice).
- For-profit entities are not eligible to apply for a grant under this program.
For more information, visit Grants.gov.
