On March 20, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that it was investing over $600,000 in wildfire protection projects in Nevada County through the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program. This program is designed to assist communities with planning for and mitigating wildfire risks on Tribal, state, and privately managed land.
“With programs like the Community Wildfire Defense Grant, we continue our work throughout California to restore natural forest health and diversity with thoughtful, science-based fuels treatments,” said Jennifer Eberlien, Regional Forester for the Pacific Southwest Region. “With our partners, we are doing this work in the right place, at the right time and right scale — to reduce risk to communities, critical infrastructure, and natural resources from wildfires across the state.”
The Forest Service will announce another round of funding later in 2023, and additional communities can apply. The number of selected proposals in future rounds will depend on available funding. More information about funded proposals and announcements are available on the Community Wildfire Defense Grants website.
Along with establishing the CWDG program, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provides a historic $3.5 billion investment in wildfire management through a suite of programs aimed at reducing wildfire risks, detecting wildfires, instituting firefighter workforce reforms, and increasing pay for federal wildland firefighters. This announcement also comes on the heels of the president’s fiscal year 2024 budget, which proposes a permanent pay solution for wildland firefighters, increased capacity for mental and physical health services, and funds for housing repair, renovation, and construction.
✔️ Nevada County, Community Wildfire Protection Plan Update
$250,000 to update the Nevada County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) thereby providing a scientifically defensible and locally endorsed road map articulating the severity of the hazards that exist and the priority actions that must be taken to mitigate the risk for all communities in Nevada County, CA.
✔️ Nevada County Resource Conservation District, Prescribed Fire Training for Private Residential Landowners, Nevada County WUI:
$392,542 to provide prescribed fire tools and training to private residents of Nevada County to increase the capacity to carry out prescribed treatments.
See the USFS Facebook post announcing all of the CWDG awards within Tahoe National Forest.
