Utah’s Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands received a Notice of Funding Opportunity to participate in the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG), which is a 5-year program funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL) and administered by the USDA Forest Service in partnership with state forestry agencies. $5 billion has been allocated over 5 years to help communities at risk of wildfires fund projects that support the three goals in the National Cohesive Strategy:
- Restoring and maintaining landscapes
- Creating fire-adapted communities
- Improving wildfire response
The CWDG program is entering its second year. Round two opened July 31, 2023. Utah is now accepting applications for projects that fit into two categories; 1) Develop or revise a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) or 2) Implement a project identified within a CWPP. Any entity can apply, including state agencies, counties, municipalities, NGO’s, Tribes and HOA’s.
Utah’s 2023 deadline for application submission is October 17, 2023.
Links to helpful resources:
- CWDG Utah Fact Sheet
- USDA CWDG Webpage
- Notice of Funding Opportunity Round 2
- Council of Western State Foresters CWDG Webpage
- CWDG Round 2 Fillable PDF
- CWDG Eligibility and Scoring Tool
- CWDG Focused Grant Writing 101 recorded video
Point of Contact for Utah: Jennifer McBride, Assistant Wildfire Risk Reduction Coordinator, at jomcbride@utah.gov or 801-560-1072