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Community Mitigation Assistance Team

Listen. Lead. Empower.

The Community Mitigation Assistance Team, or CMAT, is a national interagency resource designed to help communities build sustainable local capacity for community wildfire mitigation within high-risk areas before, during, and after a wildfire.


 

Now Virtual

Community Mitigation Assistance Teams are now available Virtually. In addition, Mitigation Mentors are also available to work hand-in-hand with local community partnerships to further on-the-ground mitigation and build local capacity.

a national To request a virtual CMAT, please fill-in the interagency resource CMAT Request fill-in form and submit it to and/or call Jon Bruno fill-in Partner CMAT Coordinator (716) 433-6775. To request a Mitigation Mentor also contact Jon Bruno.


What Community Mitigation Assistance Teams Do

  • During incidents: CMATs work closely with Incident Management Teams, the Forest Service or other land management agencies and community residents and leaders to identify mitigation opportunities before a fire impacts the community.

  • CMATS work with local partners to identify and help them resolve mitigation challenges and build long-term mitigation efforts using best practices.

  • The team uses SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) analysis, one-on-one interviews, mentoring, best community risk reduction practices, mini-workshops, Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs), risk and fire occurrence maps, home assessments, pertinent research, demographics, their experience, and close community collaboration to help communities move mitigation forward.

  • Every assignment is different and dictated by individual community needs.

  • CMATs don’t provide wildfire prevention/messaging, produce literature/product development or perform the work of the community/ordering authority.


Local enabling conditions to consider a CMAT

  • The community is at medium to high risk of wildfire and has an identified mitigation challenge.

  • There is an existing wildfire mitigation organization/coalition including local, state, and federal land management partners.

  • Pertinent local, state, and federal partners have the capacity and desire to work closely with the team during the assignment and to implement resulting recommendations including follow-up reporting of accomplishments.

  • Scope of the project should provide a good return on investment (long and short term) to justify cost to deploy a team.

  • The ordering authority must provide a working location, internet access, and support for the CMAT during deployment. 


Ordering a CMAT

  • Any community that meets the conditions described above may request a CMAT through the local National Forest, Incident Command Team, or other federal land manager. Requests are vetted by the National CMAT Lead based on enabling conditions, need, and likelihood of success. 


Want to be a CMAT member?

  • Team members are highly proficient wildland urban interface mitigation specialists with extensive experience in community mitigation best practices and skills in analytical thinking, problem solving, wildfire behavior, collaboration, communication, and teamwork. Must be familiar with incident command.

  • Assignments are usually 7-14 days/12-14 hour days; laptops, cell phones, and personal credit cards are required (expenses are reimbursed).

  • Team members are ordered through IROC following interagency incident business management practices and are paid based on IROC status (agency employee, AD, or cooperator/partnership agreement) and reimbursed for travel and per diem per policy.

  • Team members report to the team lead who functions as the liaison with the local Forest and community.

  • If you are interested in becoming a team member fill out the application and e-mail to the CMAT Coordinator.


Assignments

2023

Croatan National Forest, NC

One More Day (arcgis.com)


2022

Evergreen, CO

Mitigating Wildfire: Evergreen Needs Everyone (arcgis.com)

Mount Hood National Forest, OR

A Corridor of Collaboration

Sevier County

Actions Speak Louder than Words


2021

Grand County

Grand County Turns Troublesome Into Triumph

Lake County

Aligning to Action

Santa Fe National Forest

Greater Santa Fe Fireshed Coalition


2020

Pike San Isabel National Forest

Partnering to Move Mitigation Forward


2019

Alpine Wyoming

Alpine Area 


2018

Montana Wildfires

Missoula County

Spring Creek Fire

Mitigating Mountains

Dollar Ridge Fire

Crossing Boundaries for Collaboration


2017

Chetco Bar

Ideas to Action 

Pisgah National Forest

New Insights, New Partners


2016

Pike San Isabel National Forest

A Blueprint for Mitigation

Bridger Teton National Forest

Moving Mitigation Forward: Opportunities for TAWPC


2015

The Chelan Complex - Leavenworth

Executive Summary

 


For more information contact the National Community Wildfire Mitigation Program Manager

Jonathan Bruno
Chief Operations Officer
Phone: 719-433-6775
Website: https://co-co.org/

 

Multiple people sitting around tables in a conference room listening to a presentation.
Teton Area Wildfire Protection Coalition and CMAT work to identify challenges and opportunities for risk reduction.

 

Yellow PostIt notes attached to larger papers on a wall.
Idea to action issues board as a result of Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats (SWOT) analysis on the Chetco Bar Fire.

 

A group of people standing around a table, bent over, looking at maps on the table.
McDowell County mitigation partners review risk maps for next steps.

 

People standing beside each other in a line, next to the USDA Forest Service, Jackson Ranger District, Bridger-Teton National Forest sign.
The Bridger-Teton National Forest Community Mitigation Assistance Team (CMAT).

 

Multiple groups of people sitting around tables in a conference room, in discussion with each other.
Missoula County partners and cooperators engage with CMAT members during SWOT exercise.

 

https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/fire/cmat