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Wildfire Council and county describe countywide mitigation, CWPP priorities and grant wins
Summary
Grand County Wildfire Council and county staff outlined the countywide Community Wildfire Protection Plan, recent grant-funded mitigation projects, education programs and a multi-agency strategy to expand fuels work; the council asked for continued county partnership and noted grant awards including CoS WAP and OLRT funding.
Representatives from Grand County Wildfire Council and county fire agencies briefed the Board of County Commissioners on March 18 about countywide wildfire risk, recent mitigation successes and planned projects under the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP).
Wildfire Council executive director Jessica Ron and fire chiefs reviewed the county’s updated CWPP risk map showing broad areas of moderate-to-extreme wildfire risk, described a suite of completed and planned mitigation projects, and summarized 2024 accomplishments: five community chipping events (with a 30% increase in participation and about 2,000 volunteer hours), multiple cost-share reimbursements that helped fund about 430 acres of mitigation, and new funding awards to support additional prioritized projects.
Staff described awarded grants: a ConservationX Labs research award (for post-fire seeding research), CoS DNR funds for mitigation in Winter Park Highlands, The Shores and Homestead Hills, and other state and foundation funding. The council said it will continue cost-share programs for home hazard‑ignition zones and larger neighborhood-scale strategic fuels projects; it listed education and training events planned for 2025 and noted continuing work to map and track parcels across the county for prioritized mitigation.
Commissioners asked about the county’s role in supporting Wildfire Council grant applications and whether county staff could continue to assist with permitting, coordination and outreach. Wildfire Council asked that the sheriff and county continue supporting proposals and exploring funding opportunities; commissioners and staff agreed to continue coordination and to support applications where appropriate.
Ending: Wildfire Council will continue to coordinate mitigation programs, prepare parcel-level assessments, and return with project-level grant requests and updates as grant cycles progress.
