Wildfire Council Offers Cost-Share Program to Private Landowners

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Granby, Colo. – The Grand County Wildfire Council (GCWC) is offering private landowners and collective groups of landowners the opportunity to apply for incentive cost-share funding to implement hazardous fuels reduction projects outlined in local Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs). 

The GCWC Cost-Share Program provides financial support, as well as technical assistance, to aid individuals and communities with mitigating wildfire risk. Funding and technical assistance is available to assist with creating defensible space around homes or landscape-scale fuels reduction projects. The program provides funding, on a reimbursement basis, to help offset the costs of hiring a contractor to reduce hazardous fuels.

Eligible applicants must be a home or property owner/renter within Grand County. Applicants who live in an ‘Extreme,’ ‘Very High’ or ‘High’ hazard-rated community identified in their respective fire district’s CWPP are given priority. Landscape-scale fuels reduction projects should be identified in an approved CWPP or be recognized by the local Fire District as a priority project for wildfire hazard mitigation

Reimbursement will be negotiated at time of application approval. The GCWC can reimburse 50%, up to $525 per acre treated, but no more than actual costs. “In 2018, we reimbursed homeowners $33,000 that leveraged over $290,000 in actual and in-kind dollars toward wildfire mitigation in Grand County,” stated Brad White, the GCWC Mitigation Subcommittee Chairperson and Fire Chief at Grand Fire Protection District.

Visit bewildfireready.org/fuels-reduction-cost-share-program for more information or contact Captain Adam Gosey at East Grand Fire at 970-726-5824 or agosey@eastgrandfire.com.

The Grand County Wildfire Council (GCWC) is a non-profit, community-based educational outreach program for the residents and visitors of Grand County, Colorado. Our group consists of members from local, state, and federal government agencies, all of our local fire departments, homeowner groups, local businesses, and concerned citizens. Our mission is: “Through education and action, promote wildland fire prevention, preparedness, mitigation, and survival.”