Experts Discuss the Future of Community Wildfire Planning and Defense Grants

In a recent webinar hosted by the Western Fire Chiefs Association and Vibrant Planet, fire safety leaders and experts gathered to discuss the critical role of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) and the opportunities presented by the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program.

The panel, featuring Chief Bob Roper, Oregon State Fire Marshal Mariana Ruiz-Temple, Colorado Division of Fire Prevention & Control Director Mike Morgan, and Vibrant Planet Co-Founder Scott Conway, emphasized the need for dynamic, data-driven approaches to wildfire planning and community protection. With the need for current and specific data, updated consistently, to generate living CWPPs, leaders in the space articulated the need for dynamic, decision support tooling. Communities focused on reducing wildfire risk could be better prepared to secure funding from the CWDG program, with an impending deadline for applications of February 28th, 2025. 

Key takeaways: 

• Dynamic, impactful plans: Data and science-backed grant applications are at the root of what makes a successful grant funding request to the CWDG program, and all grant funding opportunities. The most successful applicants can showcase a project roadmap that shows the expected or likely impact in reducing wildfire risk, enhancing community resilience, and improving ecosystem resilience to key functions like watershed, biodiversity, and more. 
• Diverse collaboration: Grant administrators want to fund projects supporting goals that have been set across a community, and will be stewarded by multiple organizations. The wildfire risk crisis can only be solved through collective action, and a compelling CWDG application should demonstrate how it brings together HOAs, water municipalities, and tribal lands managers, for example, who have all collaborated to build a collective wildfire risk reduction plan.  
• Connecting the checkerboard: We cannot afford to mitigate wildfire risk in a piecemeal, checkerboarded fashion. Thus, we need to plan, prioritize, and quantify expected outcomes in a connected fashion. Communities that plan and collaborate to connect checkerboard projects and opportunities will not only be most successful in raising grant funds, but they will make the most meaningful impacts in improving pace and scale of resilience.

Moving Beyond Static Wildfire Risk Reduction Plans

Chief Bob Roper highlighted a crucial shift needed in wildfire planning. He often sees CWPPs developed and then sit on the shelf, collecting dust. He believes a CWPP has to be living and dynamic, so that it can be readily adapted. Scott Conway also built on this point, noting that environments are becoming increasingly dynamic as wildfires continue to alter landscapes. He stressed that communities not only need current data when building CWPPs, but also the flexibility to modify plans as wildfire activity occurs.

This sentiment was echoed throughout the discussion, with panelists emphasizing the importance of maintaining current data and the ability to adapt plans as landscapes change.

The Power of Collaboration in Wildfire Risk Management

The discussion also centered around the essential role of collaboration in successful wildfire planning. Mike Morgan emphasized that because funds are finite it's crucial for various stakeholders – from HOAs, tribal lands, water providers, county commissioners and more – to work together. He underscored that programs are the most effective when they are collaborative and can source diverse funding streams. 

Mariana Ruiz-Temple highlighted the needs of smaller rural communities, noting that they often require additional support and may even have out of data wildfire risk reduction plans. She emphasized the importance of regionalizing focus and broadening participation in planning groups, while acknowledging that it's okay for communities to have outdated CWPPs as long as they have a clear vision for moving forward.

Measuring Wildfire Impact Beyond Acres Treated

The panel also discussed the evolution of measuring project success. Conway noted that while historically, impact has been measured simply by acres treated, modern approaches need to consider both direct and ancillary impacts. This includes examining co-benefits of land treatments such as benefits to biodiversity and improvements in water quality, which can help attract more diverse funding streams and engage additional stakeholders in management opportunities.

Chief Roper pointed out that for too long, wildfire projects have been implemented in a "checkerboard" fashion across landscapes, without clear connections to overall regional goals. Today's grant applications need to demonstrate how individual projects tie into broader regional objectives and any existing CWPPs. Conway added that Vibrant Planet was motivated to roll out our platform's analytics across the West to try to help this exact problem. Our company helps organizations at every level make more cohesive plans that can roll up to state and regional project planning, and gives all partners a unified view of the landscape and where risk exists.

Conway rounded out the discussion by sharing the importance of generating quantified impact analytics to support community resilience. He explained that the path to generating resilience requires better analytics to accelerate project planning. Vibrant Planet serves this technical need so organizations can make sound decisions faster and focus more on implementation. 

Keys to a Strong Community Wildfire Defense Grant

The discussion highlighted several key elements for successful wildfire planning and grant applications:

• The need for dynamic, regularly updated data
• A demonstration of strong cross-jurisdictional relationships
• Clear connections between individual projects and larger regional priorities
• Diverse funding streams and broad stakeholder engagement
• Visual tools and metrics that can effectively communicate and quantify project impacts and co-benefits

As communities face increasing wildfire risks, these insights from leading experts provide valuable guidance for developing more effective and adaptive approaches to wildfire protection planning.

The Community Wildfire Defense Grant program, offering $10 million in funding for community resilience, represents an important opportunity for communities to implement these approaches and strengthen their wildfire preparedness efforts. The deadline to apply for 2025 CWDG funds is February 28, 2025. For support analyzing your projects and telling a compelling story with metrics, analytics, and clear visuals to support CWDG applications, reach out to our team.