Douglas County summarizes 2024 wildfire mitigation work, secures $850,000 for 2025 cost‑share program

Jill Welly, wildfire mitigation and resilience coordinator for Douglas County, told the Board of County Commissioners on Feb. 11 that wildfire remains the county’s top natural hazard and staff had concentrated 2024 work on home ignition‑zone projects, community outreach and partnerships.

Welly said the county’s mitigation team and its Wildfire Action Collaborative — a group of more than 35 professionals from roughly 14 organizations — used a mix of cost‑share grants, open‑space treatments and community networking to reduce risk. “We know that wildfire is the number 1 natural hazard in Douglas County,” Welly said.

County staff said the program has shifted since its 2023 pilot. In 2023 the county used $1 million in ARPA funds to underwrite a pilot that paid 75% of project costs (up to $100,000). For 2024 the Board allocated $400,000, and staff reduced the cost‑share to a 50% match and instituted competitive scoring and project caps to stretch limited funds. Under that model, staff said they received 152 applications and awarded funding to 107 projects (about a 70% success rate). Staff said earlier investments treated roughly 750 acres across 81 projects in 2023.

Dylan (wildfire mitigation staff) described specific program rules: homeowner work must occur within the home ignition zone (the home and the first 100 feet around it); homeowner maximums were capped at $10,000 and community/HOA maximums at $50,000 for the 2024 cycle. Dylan said staff prioritized projects located inside the wildland‑urban interface (WUI) and used the competitive process to maximize impact.

Staff told the board the county requested $500,000 for the 2025 cost‑share program. Days earlier they received a state pre‑award of $350,000 from the Colorado State Forest Service Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Management grant program, bringing the county’s 2025 total to $850,000. Dylan said that award notification was a “pre‑award” and that the additional state funds will supplement the county allocation.

Presenters also described larger grants and open‑space projects. Staff said they applied for and were awarded a $1 million grant identified in the presentation as a CoSwap (as described by staff) that requires a $300,000 county match; they said the board approved the required county match. Ryan Smith, senior land manager for Douglas County Open Space, said Open Space accepted a separate award to treat about 144 acres at Sandstone Ranch under the Forest Restoration grant framework; one challenging treatment unit (referred to as Silicon Mine 1) will require hand work on about 86 acres because of steep topography.

The presentation included before‑and‑after photos from Village Lakes, Bear Dance and other neighborhoods, and staff emphasized coordination with local fire districts and neighboring jurisdictions. Welly and Ryan described networking sessions for Firewise USA leaders and community wildfire advocates; staff reported 27 attendees at the first networking session and 36 at a November follow up. Staff also recapped outreach tools such as an ArcGIS story map, a Just 1 Spark video series, and partnerships with South Metro and West Metro fire districts.

Commissioners and staff framed the work as ongoing and grant‑dependent. Commissioner Abe Laden (Board of County Commissioners) praised the collaborative effort and federal grant‑seeking; no new policy change was adopted at the meeting.

Ending

Staff said they will return with project schedules and additional details as state and federal grant paperwork is finalized. Several projects identified in the presentation were slated to begin in spring 2025; Sandstone Ranch treatments were described as likely to start in June or July, depending on scheduling and permitting.