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Commission approves 2026 Cooperative Wildfire System participation statement and delegates signing authority
Summary
After a detailed briefing from a state DNR/FFSL warden, the Kane County Commission approved the 2026 Cooperative Wildfire System participation commitment statement and authorized the chair to sign documents with non-substantial changes. Officials emphasized in-kind accounting, required CWPP updates and the county's statutory cooperator role.
The Kane County Commission voted Feb. 10 to approve the county's 2026 Cooperative Wildfire System (CWS) participation commitment statement and to give the commission chair authority to sign related documents with non-substantial changes.
A DNR/FFSL warden (speaker 9) told the commission the state calculates each entity's participation commitment (PC) using a 10-year fire-history average (highest and lowest years removed) and a statutory factor for high-risk acreage. The warden said all counties are required by statute to be cooperators in the CWS and that the statement is an annual estimate of how the county plans to meet that commitment.
The state representative explained allowable expenses (education, outreach, project work such as fuels reduction, and some equipment) and emphasized the state's preference that the majority of expenditures go toward fuels-reduction project work rather than equipment purchases. He described ways the county can count existing work as in-kind contributions toward the PC, citing examples such as extra roads-department vegetation work and sheriff hours for fire patrols.
The warden said some line-item amounts on the submitted statement may change as bids arrive and that the document is therefore an estimate subject to midyear adjustment. He also said the county's Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is being revised (last version dated 2016) and that the state will expect future expenditures to align with the CWPP.
Commission debate noted that statute ultimately assigns wildfire responsibility to the sheriff; commissioners said they are comfortable with the sheriff and county staff managing the program while retaining commission oversight. The motion that passed directs approval of the 2026 participation commitment statement "as presented" and grants the commission chair (identified in the transcript as Gwen Brown) the authority to sign follow-up documents with non-substantial changes to dollar amounts.
Commissioners recorded the vote by voice and approved the motion. County staff indicated they will revisit the statement midyear if needed and will file the signed statement with the state office as required.
