Travis County approves applying for $8 million US Forest Service wildfire grant

Travis County Commissioners Court voted unanimously March 13 to authorize staff to submit a letter of intent to apply for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant South, a U.S. Forest Service program that would provide $8,000,000 in federal funds and carries a proposed county cost share of $2,666,667 spread over five years.

The vote came during a special session called at 3:01 p.m. at 700 Lavaca. Judge Brown presided; Commissioners Howard, Gomez and Trevillion were present and supported the motion. Commissioner Howard moved to approve the letter of intent and Judge Brown seconded; the court approved the motion unanimously.

Dashiell Daniels with Grama Administration, who presented the proposal, said the federal share would be $8,000,000 and that the application includes “a $3,000,000 line for contractuals. Dollars 600,000 of that will be for a community outreach and education contractor in emergency services.” Daniels described a two‑track project that would expand Travis County Parks’ ability to perform mechanical and prescribed fire treatments on public land while developing a program to support private landowners.

Gabe Mallum, parkland resource manager for Travis County Parks, is identified in the application as the lead for the public‑land work. Daniels told the court the grant proposal includes nine positions funded under the grant — a wildfire mitigation specialist within Emergency Services, four parkland management technician positions and four natural resources specialist senior positions on the wildland fire management team — plus four county cost‑share positions (two natural resources specialist senior positions, a GIS technician and an administrative assistant) under the county match.

Daniels also outlined other budget components: $3,000,000 for contractuals (including the $600,000 outreach contract), $424,000 for equipment, roughly $1.2 million in Emergency Services costs over five years and approximately $9.4 million in Transportation and Natural Resources (TNR) costs over five years as presented to the court. He said staff broke out the county cost share by year and that the first year is the largest because of the equipment purchases.

Commissioners pressed staff on the increase in the county cost share and timing. Commissioner Trevillion said the proposal was “about 10 times bigger than what I was expecting,” and the court discussed that earlier planning estimates had been roughly $250,000 for a planning grant. Daniels said the larger figure resulted from (1) direction from the court to pursue a larger grant between $6 million and $8 million and (2) a granter calculation that the required cost match is 25% of the project cost, not 25% of the award.

Michelle Serco of the Planning and Budget Office told the court that the department had requested TNR put the county cost‑share request through the FY2026 budget process so the office could provide analysis, and that if the county wished to proceed after an award, PDA would recommend drawing from the county’s emergency reserve — which she said currently had a balance of $15,000,000 — as an option pending formal budget review.

Members also discussed application timing and federal uncertainty. The court was told the application deadline had been extended to March 14 and that notices of award were expected around July, although officials cautioned that any federal government disruptions could affect that timeline. Daniels said that if Travis County is awarded funds, the county could decline the award or attempt to negotiate scope and award size, but he warned that granters are generally reluctant to approve large scope changes and that negotiating down an award could risk losing it.

The court directed staff to submit the letter of intent for the grant and discussed how any subsequent grant agreement would be returned to Commissioners Court for consideration and sign‑off. Several commissioners asked that, if the county is awarded funds, the resulting agreement not be placed on consent so the court can further vet scope and county commitments before final acceptance.

Ending: Staff said they would submit the application before the stated deadline and, if awarded, would return to Commissioners Court for further direction and formal acceptance decisions. The court adjourned at 3:20 p.m.