Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program (CWDG)

Last updated: September 21, 2023

The Community Wildfire Defense Grants (CWDG) are intended to help at-risk local communities, local governments, Tribes, non-profits, State forestry agencies, and Alaska Native Corporations plan and work to reduce the risk against wildfire.

The CWDG program is available from the USDA Forest Service through the State of Alaska, Division of Forestry & Fire Protection. The grants are funded through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.

The CWDG Round 2 has been announced and the four Round 2 NOFO opportunities are now live in grants.gov. This information will also be on the Forest Service CWDG website, link below:
https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/fire/grants

Eligibility: The grants are only for eligible projects developed by communities, Tribes, states, non-profits, and Alaska Native Corporations. Communities will receive priority for this program if they are a low-income area, recently impacted by disaster or in a wildfire hazard location.

There are two categories of projects that can be applied for and will be evaluated separately:

For Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Development or Revision: One of the fundamental building blocks in creating a fire adapted community is the development, adoption and continuous use of a well-prepared CWPP. In some cases, a community may choose to utilize a FEMA-approved hazard mitigation plan or Tribal hazard mitigation plan with a wildfire component that meets the same objectives of a CWPP.
For project implementation: The project must be described in a Community Wildfire Protection Plan that is not more than 10-years old.
Funding is not available for fire suppression training, equipment, or supplies.

Individual grants will fund up to $250,000 to create and update community wildfire protection plans or conduct outreach and education, and up to $10 million for associated infrastructure and resilience projects. Projects must be completed within five years of the award obligation.

The DOF hosted an Alaskan Applicant Informational webinar on 9/12. The webinar recording can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/pLw4hqn2-3w

The slide deck used for the webinar presentation can be found here:

CWDG Alaska Webinar (PPTX)
CWDG Alaska Webinar (PDF)

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES: CWDG Office Hours hosted by the USFS

An opportunity for applicants to ask questions about the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program. These office hours will be available every other Wednesday, starting on August 30, 2023, and the last one on October 25, 2023.

Questions can be asked about the Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO), the application, the portal, and/or anything along the process. Applicants may join any of the virtual USFS office hour Zoom meetings at any time during the scheduled sessions, through the following links:

September 27: From 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern); or from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Mountain), Must Register in Advance to Attend Webinar.
October 11: From 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m. (Eastern); or from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. (Mountain), Must Register in Advance to Attend Webinar.
October 25: From 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m. (Eastern); or from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. (Mountain), Must Register in Advance to Attend Webinar.

Registration:

Important: Applicants must register in sam.gov to apply for a grant. Organizations must have an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), which will generate a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Creating a SAM registration may take several weeks or more to complete. Therefore, ensure you apply for your SAM registration promptly.

How to Apply for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program

To apply, follow the instructions in the Notices of Funding Opportunity or search for the grant opportunity number specific for your notice (USDA-FS-2023-CWDG-TRIBES, USDA-FS-2023-CWDG-CWSF, USDA-FS-2023-CWDG-NEMW, USDA-FS-2023-CWDG-SGSF) at grants.gov.
To receive a unique link to the application portal, contact the Point of Contact (POC) listed in the NOFO. For the State of Alaska, the contact is sarah.saarloos@alaska.gov.
Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. eastern time on October 31, 2023.

The Wildfire Risk To Communities CWDG Web Tool is a new tool for Round 2 that is covered further in the applicant webinars. https://wildfirerisk.org/cwdg-tool

Important Resources:

We highly recommend viewing the recorded webinar(s) from USFS for Western States and/or Tribal application instructions. These webinars cover the application process, scoring criteria, and prioritization factors: