Community Wildfire Defense with Mt. Adams Resource Stewards
Building Wildfire Resilience with Shaded Fuel Breaks in Klickitat County
What is the Community Wildfire Defense Grant?
The Community Wildfire Defense Program (CWDG) is a grant program intended to help local communities and Tribes plan for and reduce wildfire risk. The program is designed to enhance coordination between federal, state, and local agencies, as well as engage private landowners and communities in proactive measures to mitigate wildfire risks. It allocates funds for projects like fuel reduction, forest restoration, defensible space creation, and the development of early warning systems. Overall, the program seeks to address the growing threat of wildfires by investing in prevention, mitigation, and response measures at the community level.
Mt. Adams Resource Stewards (MARS) and CWDG
MARS was recently awarded grant funding from the Forest Service through the CWDG program to help establish a series of shaded fuel breaks throughout Klickitat County. This grant will fund fuel break projects over the next five years. We are working with local landowners of all sizes to implement these projects in a way that is beneficial to all.
Example photos from CWDG funded fuel breaks in progress.
What is a Shaded Fuel Break?
A shaded fuel break is a strategic area where vegetation is intentionally modified or cleared to reduce the risk of wildfire. Typically, this involves removing and thinning out vegetation to reduce overall fuel loading and reducing "ladder" fuels near communities, roads, or infrastructure. This helps to create a barrier that can slow the spread of wildfire and provide a safer environment for firefighting efforts by changing fire behavior and maintaining corridors of ingress and egress. The fuel reduction can take the form of hand piling material and burning later, chipping, mastication, or prescribed fire. These fuel breaks are often designed to maintain a balance between reducing fire risk and preserving the ecological integrity of the landscape.
An example of shaded fuel break projects in the Sonoma/Napa area in California.
Where and Why?
Project locations were based on areas identified in the Klickitat County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). The CWPP identified fuel break projects as a priority for mitigating wildfire risk in Klickitat County. When applying for the grant, MARS staff pulled from these CWPP identified areas to propose project areas based on feasibility and areas of greatest impact.
Potential and Completed CWDG Project Sites
Map showing proposed potential fuel break project locations as well as currently completed projects.
Questions?
Contact dalton@mtadamsstewards.org to get more information on the project.
Or visit the links below for the MARS, CWDG and CWPP pages.
“This project was supported by Grant No. 24-DG-11062752-046 awarded by USDA Forest Service. Points of view in this document are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the official position or policies of the USDA Forest Service. Grant funds are administered by the Wildfire Management Division, Washington State Department of WA DNR.”