California Fire Safe Council (CFSC) this past week announced it has awarded over $2 million in federal grant funds to 21 at-risk California communities in 17 counties to conduct wildfire risk reduction projects.

Funding for the 2019 CFSC Grants is provided through grants to CFSC’s Clearinghouse by the Cooperative Fire Program of the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), Department of Agriculture, Pacific Southwest Region and Bureau of Land Management, (BLM) Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) and Community Fire Assistance Program.

“The selected projects help California communities respond to the growing concern over catastrophic wildfire and exemplify efforts to create fire adapted communities,” said CFSC Executive Director Tracy Katelman. “CFSC would like to offer a special thank you to the USFS and BLM for their support of CFSC’s mission to help California communities respond to the growing concern over catastrophic wildfire.”

Through sub grants from CFSC, these projects provide support to implement fuel reduction projects such as community chipper programs, fuel breaks, and roadside and defensible space projects. These projects will also utilize educational tools to spread the Fire Safe message and engage community members.

The 2019 State Fire Assistance (SFA) and Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Community Assistance grants will support: hazardous fuels reduction and maintenance projects on non-federal land, community Wildfire Protection Plans and other plans or assessments, prevention and mitigation education and outreach opportunities.

In addition to the federal funds, the projects will utilize over $2.9 million in matching contributions, both in-kind and cash. This generous support demonstrates the value of collaboration and partnerships among agencies and organizations to create Fire Adapted Communities throughout California.

For more information and a list of 2019 grant recipients, visit www.cafiresafecouncil.org.