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Missoula County expands wildfire mitigation outreach; offers 75% cost-share for vegetation work
Summary
Missoula County wildfire mitigation specialist Olivia Anderson described free home assessments, a county chipper service and a vegetation cost-share that covers 75% of mitigation work (homeowner pays 25%). The county is updating its Community Wildfire Protection Plan and plans public outreach across multiple communities.
Missoula County’s wildfire mitigation team is expanding outreach and preparedness services, offering free home risk assessments, a county chipping service and a cost-share program that covers most vegetation mitigation work, the county’s wildfire mitigation specialist said on the Missoula County Commissioners podcast.
Olivia Anderson, Missoula County wildfire mitigation specialist, said the program — funded in part by a Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) — now has a four-person team focused on community preparedness and home-hardening. “They're completely free, and they're really educational,” Anderson said of the one-on-one assessments that generate a risk rating in the county’s mapping system.
The nut of the county’s current mitigation assistance is the vegetation cost-share. “The county covers 75% and the homeowner's responsible for 25%,” Anderson said. The program pays contractors to remove small-diameter trees and ladder fuels to reduce the path of fire toward homes; Anderson said the county uses wildfire-mitigation specifications tied to county risk standards.
Anderson…
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