Strategic Fuels Mitigation Grant Program

The Strategic Fuels Mitigation Grant Program (SFMG) is funded by the county’s voter-approved wildfire mitigation sales and use tax, which went into effect in 2023. It provides cost-share funding through competitive grants to leverage other federal, state, and local funding sources.

Eligibility

The following organizations may apply:

• Local government entities in Boulder County
• Private utilities, ditch companies, and water providers
• State agencies that own or manage land in Boulder County
• Homeowners Associations
• Non-profit organizations

In addition, applicants must:

• Be able to function as the fiscal agent and have legal authority to administer and/or implement treatments in the proposed project area(s).
• Confirm that participating landowner(s) agree to the project’s scope of work and grant’s reporting and monitoring requirements.

What Can Funding Be Used For?

Forest Fuels Mitigation Grants:

• Creation or maintenance of fuel breaks
• Fuels reduction by various appropriate methods, including mechanical thinning, prescribed fire, and others, designed to protect water supplies and/or reduce potential fire intensity
• Removal of saleable woody materials with specific utilization plans
• The removal/disposal of slash and non-merchantable materials using methods such as chipping, mulching, grinding, pile burning, broadcast burning or mechanical removal
• Cross-boundary projects that may include private, local government, and federal lands

Grassland Fuels Mitigation Grants:

• Fuels reduction by various appropriate methods including mowing, grazing, or prescribed fire
• Mitigation on private lands as a multi-homeowner project (e.g., community/HOA common areas, privately owned green spaces/beltways)
• Local government open space management projects with the objectives of mitigating wildfire risks
• Ditch fuels reduction projects
• Cross-boundary projects that may include private, local government, and federal lands

Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs):

• Updates to existing plans or development of new plans

Additional Grant Program Criteria

Proposed projects must be strategic in nature to maximize the effectiveness of the grant program. Strategic elements include:

• Being recognized in one of the following plans:
  • Boulder County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) or a local CWPP
  • Local hazard mitigation plans
  • Forest management plans (e.g., Forest Agriculture Plan, NRCS Conservation Planning Activities plan)
  • Wildfire Ready Watershed action plan
• Designation as a high-risk area on a current wildfire risk map
• Location within or adjacent to:
  • Boulder County Fireshed Focus Area Map
  • Potential Operational Delineation (POD) mapped areas
• Inclusion in a specific project area (e.g., St.Vrain Forest Health Project)
• Being part of a larger, landscape-scale treatment or a community-wide, multi-landowner project
• Involvement in cross-boundary projects
• Close to public or private lands that have received or are scheduled for treatment

Local Coordination and Consultation:

• Applicants must coordinate project development with relevant forestry or wildfire experts. Coordination should be with one or more of the following: Boulder County Wildfire Forest and Grassland Project Coordinator or a forester from the Colorado State Forest Service, Boulder Field Office, Boulder County Parks and Open Space, or the City of Boulder Open Space and Mountain Parks.
• Applicants are required to schedule a pre-project site visit with an identified expert as defined above. All grant applications must include a site visit form completed by the Boulder County Wildfire Team Forest and Grasslands Project Coordinator or other consulting forester. It is recommended that the applicant schedule their site visit(s) early in the project development stage to ensure the project is strategic, feasible, and achievable.

Shared and Leveraged Resources:

• Projects should demonstrate efforts to leverage resources (e.g., expertise, staffing, and funding) to maximize effectiveness and efficiency.
• Preference will be given to applicants who demonstrate landowner commitment, engagement, and match.

Local Measures to Reduce Wildfire Risk:

• Preference will be given to applicants who incorporate local programs or approaches into wildfire risk mitigation projects.

Examples of Local Measures:

• Coordination with individuals and communities participating in the Boulder County Wildfire Partners Programs
• Participation in the Firewise USA® Program and/or Neighborhood Ambassador Program
• Adoption and implementation of Fire Adapted Community concepts
• Demonstration of ongoing wildfire outreach and education efforts
• Participation in existing slash or mulch collection or chipping programs
• Adoption of, or plans to adopt, county or local building codes for wildfire mitigation
• Protection of critical watersheds

There is approximately $2 million remaining for 2024. Of this amount, planning grants will be capped at $250,000. The county will fund up to five (5) planning proposals annually, at a maximum of $50,000 each.

• The Boulder County Strategic Fuels Mitigation Grant (SFMG) program breakdown of cost share is as follows:
• The SFMG program requires a minimum 50% match provided by other grant programs or funding sources.
• The county will fund 50% of the total project budget.
• Applicants providing landowner project match (cash match, in-kind match, or a combination of both) will be given preference. Applicants will be scored higher or lower based on the percentage of landowner match contributed.
• The applicant must describe the landowner contribution and engagement in the application.

For socially vulnerable communities:

• Projects in communities identified as socially vulnerable using the CSFS Forest Atlas Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) tool and/or CDC SVI map will be eligible to reduce the required match to 25% with SFMG providing up to 75% of the total project funding. The applicant must show evidence that the community is considered socially vulnerable and that they have secured state, federal, or other funding resources.
• Matching contributions can be cash, in-kind or a combination of both.

Funds will be awarded on a project-to-project basis depending upon strategic value and available funding.

Reimbursement Requests

Grantee must complete a reporting form (provided) with each reimbursement request that is submitted. For fuels mitigation projects, the grantee must also schedule periodic site visits with the Boulder County Wildfire Team Forest and Grasslands Project Coordinator.

Completion of Project Requirements

Fuels mitigation projects: The final report for fuels mitigation projects should have a narrative of accomplishments that includes the following:

• Number of acres treated
• Cost per acre to treat
• Type of treatment(s)
• If wood products were generated, discuss type of wood product, volume, and value
• List of partners who contributed to the project
• Digital “before and after” photos
• Spatial data (i.e., shapefiles) for treated areas

Planning projects: A copy of an approved and signed community wildfire protection plan must be submitted to the Boulder County Grant Program Administrator at cppwildfiregrantsprogram@bouldercounty.gov.

Request for Applications (RFA) Release:

• September 20th, 2024

Application Deadline:

• November 1, 2024, 11:59 pm MDT (Six weeks)

Anticipated Award Notification Date:

• Late-December to Early January 2025

Project Completion Deadline:

• January 2028 (Mitigation)
• January 2027 (Planning)

Please combine grant application and allowable supporting documents into a single PDF or compressed zip folder and submit via email to the CP&P Wildfire Team Grants Administrator at cppwildfiregrants@bouldercounty.gov.

Required Grant Application Checklist:

• Application
• Project Map
• Site Visit Form (Fuels Mitigation Applications Only)
• Landowner Match Tool (Fuels Mitigation Applications Only)

Additional support materials will not be considered.

Application Review and Selection Process

• Applications will be reviewed by a selection committee of 3-5 professionals with fuels mitigation or planning expertise. Committee members will be solicited from non-governmental, local, state, or federal government stakeholder groups. The committee will evaluate, score, and rank all submitted applications and will make recommendations for project funding to the Board of County Commissioners (BOCC). The BOCC will provide final funding approval within approximately 8 weeks.

Award Notification Process

• If funding is approved by the BOCC, a pre-award notification letter will be sent to the applicant within 2 weeks, stating the amount awarded and providing information about the next steps.
• Upon receipt of the applicant’s W-9 and final Scope of Work (SOW), the grant agreement and grant reimbursement packet will be sent to the grantee for signature and documentation of required match.

Match Documentation

• Applicants who have not secured the required 50% match from other grant sources have six months from when they receive the initial SFMG pre-award letter to secure these funds. After receiving the matching grant, applicants are required to send us a copy of their award notice.
• If applicant receives notification that they have not been awarded matching grant funds and cannot secure the 50% match to the SFMG award, the applicant can reapply in the next County grant cycle.
• If funded, the SFMG award will have a 3-year life span for mitigation projects and a 2-year life span for planning projects.

Grant Applications and Guidelines

• 2024 Eligibility Criteria
• 2024 Grant Application- Fuels Mitigation
• Fuels Mitigations Guidelines
• 2024 Grant Application – Planning
• Planning Projects Guidelines
• Allowable/Non-Allowable Costs
• Landowner Match Calculation Tool

Example Maps

• Boulder County Fireshed Focus Area Map
• Boulder County Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) Map
• St. Vrain Forest Health Partnership Map
• Wildfire Risk Map

Boulder County Wildfire Resources and Information