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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):
The grants are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
There are two primary project types for which the grant provides funding:
Applications now available. For questions regarding applications, please contact Melissa Aulisio, accessga@usda.gov
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.
Cost-Share Match
Applicants can find the grant opportunities on grants.gov using the opportunity number for specific locations. All applications must include a project proposal.
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.
Due to high demand, an additional Webinar is now being offered for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Applicants.
USDA-FS-2022-CWDG-NEMW
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).
USDA-FS-2022-CWDG-SGSF
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).
USDA-FS-2022-CWDG-CWSF
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).
USDA-FS-2022-CWDG-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.
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.