Community Wildfire Defense Grant
About the Community Wildfire Defense Grant
The Community Wildfire Defense Grants are intended to help at-risk local communities and Tribes plan and reduce the risk against wildfire.
The Act prioritizes at-risk communities 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. More details on these three priorities can be found in the Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFOs) below.
The CWDG helps communities in the wildland urban interface (WUI) implement the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy):
- Restore and Maintain Landscapes: Landscapes across all jurisdictions are resilient to fire-related disturbances, in accordance with management objectives.
- Create Fire Adapted Communities: Human populations and infrastructure can better withstand a wildfire without loss of life and property.
- Improve Wildfire Response: All jurisdictions participate in making and implementing safe, effective, efficient risk-based wildfire management decisions.
The grants are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
There are two primary project types for which the grant provides funding:
- The development and revision of Community Wildfire Protection Plans.
- The implementation of projects described in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that is less than ten years old.
How to Apply for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program
Applications now available. For questions regarding applications, please contact Melissa Aulisio, accessga@usda.gov
Eligibility:
The grants are only for eligible projects developed by communities, Tribes, states, non-profits, and Alaska Native Corporations. Communities will receive priority for this program if they are a low-income area, recently impacted by disaster or in a wildfire hazard location.
| Category | Elements |
|---|---|
| Eligibility |
|
| Scoring: Priority |
|
| Community Wildfire Protection Plan Development or Update | Community Wildfire Protection Plan Project Implementation | |
|---|---|---|
| Eligibility | General ones listed previously | General ones, including less than 10-years old CWPP |
| Maximum Grant Award | No more than $250k | No more than $10M |
|
Cost-Share Match |
Not less than 10% | Not less than 25% |
| Cost-Share Match Waiver | Full waiver if community is underserved, only waiver allowed | Same requirements |
| Requirements | Some Basic Community Wildfire Protection Plan elements may be described in the appendix for those developed under this program. | Must be a project described in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan |
Registration:
- Important: Applicants must register in sam.gov to apply for a grant through grants.gov. Organizations using the grants.gov portal must have an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), which will generate a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Creating a SAM registration may take several weeks or more to complete. Therefore, ensure you apply for your SAM registration promptly.
How to Apply in grants.gov
- Applications are now available in grants.gov.
Applicants can find the grant opportunities on grants.gov using the opportunity number for specific locations. All applications must include a project proposal.
Save the Date:
The upcoming dates are available to attend the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Webinars for Applicants. Registration is now Open. To attend a webinar, follow the Registration Instructions available in the Wildland Fire Learning Portal to set-up an account.
- Northeast-Midwest States: August 4, 2022 at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)
- Western States and Territories: August 8, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
- Southern States: August 9, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. (Eastern Time)
- Tribes: August 9, 2022, at 2:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)
Due to high demand, an additional Webinar is now being offered for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Applicants.
- Western States and Territories, August 10, 2022 at 12:00 p.m. Mountain time / 11:00 a.m. Pacific time.
Opportunity numbers in grants.gov
- Northeast-Midwest States
-
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).
- Southern States
-
This is for projects that will be carried out within the footprint of the Southern States (Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, and for Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands).
- Western States and Territories
-
This is for projects that will be carried out within the footprint of the Western States and Territories (Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming, Territory of American Samoa, Republic of Palau, Federated States of Micronesia, Territory of Guam, Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands, and the Republic of the Marshall Islands).
- Tribes
-
This is for projects that will be carried out by Tribes. While this Notices of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) is specifically for Tribes, they may also apply under the corresponding state NOFO as well.
Additional Federal Wildfire Grant Resources
Federal Wildfire Resources describes a variety of pre-disaster Federal grant and cost-share programs across the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), that can support community-led efforts to prepare for wildfire.