Coconino supervisors adopt five‑year IGA with state forestry for forest restoration, wildfire mitigation

The Coconino County Board of Supervisors unanimously adopted an enabling intergovernmental agreement with the Arizona Department of Forestry & Fire Management on Aug. 25 designed to expand capacity for forest restoration, wildfire mitigation, and post‑fire flood and erosion work across the county.

Aaron Grazer, deputy director for emergency management, described the agreement as an enabling five‑year IGA "It's gonna allow us some some definite increase in capacity that DFFM has with project planning and implementation," he said, adding that individual projects will be addressed through subsequent task orders. Supervisors and staff said the IGA will position the county to pursue Community Wildfire Defense and other federal and state grants, to coordinate with the county’s community wildfire protection plan and to lean on DFFM contractor lists where local staffing is insufficient to manage multiple concurrent projects.

The board emphasized the timeliness of the agreement ahead of expected grant opportunities and asked staff to return with prioritized project lists and funding plans for upcoming grant cycles. No immediate construction or procurement action was taken under the IGA; separate approvals will be required for specific task orders and projects.