CWDG Grant Round 3 NOFO

 In Community Protection, Fire Adapted Colorado, Fire Adapted Communities, Grant Funding, Regulations, Policy & Plans

Community Wildfire Defense Grant 2024 (FY25) West

The Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) for the USDA Forest Service’s third round of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) is open effective  Nov 21, 2024.

Applications are due by February 28, 2025.  Colorado grants use the cwdg.forestrygrants.org grant portal.

NOTE: All Colorado applicants are required to connect their region’s CSFS Wildfire Resilience Coordinators or FACO Community Navigators for clarification and assistance with the CWDG application. Use the Colorado specific pre-application intake form.

All applicants, please see the region specific NOFO on grants.gov and reach out to your state or federal POC. They will provide a unique CSS link to be used to fill out your application.

Please reach out to SM.FS.usfs_cwdg@usda.gov if you have any questions or issues.

 

 

Preparing for the CWDG 

Region 3 CWDG contactsCWDG Round 3 funding will support the development and implementation of CWPPs. This funding to reduce wildfire risk to communities prioritizes areas with high wildfire hazard potential, low-income populations, and those impacted by severe disasters that increase wildfire hazard. FACO has two Community Navigators on staff who are available to assist applicants in determining their eligibility and developing proposals. Your Colorado community may be highly competitive if:

  1. At high risk
  2. Considered low income, and
  3. Has had a federally declared natural disaster increasing wildfire hazard

Webinar Resources:

  • View the 04-Nov CO CWDG webinar recording and slide deck for CO specific grant guidance.
    • Note: The details in the slide deck were based on the best current knowledge. Review the NOFO for any changes sice the presentation aired.
  • Match Calculator
    • Match is based on total project cost, which includes the match amount, so it actually ends up being a higher percentage.
    • The Match Calculator attached uses an example of a $400,000 project. It is important to note that the match is on total project cost, which includes the match amount, so it actually ends up being a higher percentage.
  • wildfirerisk.org

Important notes on the wildfire risk tool:

The wildfirerisk.org tool may show some discrepancies in data for socially vulnerable metrics, such as low-income and other SVI demographics. Depending on your search criteria when using the tool, you may get different data layers. Additionally, the resource that the reviewers will be using to determine applicant eligibility may also conflict with the map tool.

This tool is not only used to assess social vulnerability for qualifying for the match-waiver, but also to determine low-income eligibility, which is a key priority for this grant. Whether or not a project qualifies as low-income could impact the application by up to 10 points, which can significantly affect its competitiveness. We’re awaiting further information from USFS CWDG Managers on this matter. They have confirmed that any community that was previously eligible and is not showing up that way in the updated CWDG tool will still be considered eligible for this round.

 

 

Applying

NOTE: All Colorado applicants are required to connect their region’s CSFS Wildfire Resilience Coordinators or FACO Community Navigators for clarification and assistance with the CWDG application. Use the Colorado specific pre-application intake form.

Regional contacts:

 

 

Additional Resources:

 

 

[For grant support needs outside of Community Wildfire Defense Grant 2024 (FY25) West – complete a Community Navigator Request here.]