Community Wildfire Protection Planning

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service supports community-led efforts to prepare for wildfires and improve resilience.

An aerial view shows a verdant forest with distant forested peaks on a cloudless, sunny day. To the right, the forest is dotted with homes and grass fields. To the left, smoke rises from the trees. Wildland fire trucks are parked alongside a dirt road that borders one side of the fire.

The U.S. Wildland Fire Service supports tribes, states, local governments, and individual landowners with activities to manage their wildfire risk.

Community wildfire protection plans establish localized strategies to reduce risk from wildfires and restore healthier, more resilient conditions in surrounding natural areas.

Developed collaboratively between local or tribal governments, states, and federal agencies, community wildfire protection plans help:

  • Assess local wildfire risks and vulnerabilities.
  • Identify priority areas for fuels treatments.
  • Connect communities with resources and funding opportunities.
  • Facilitate collaboration among landowners, fire departments, and government agencies.
  • Introduce training on fire-adapted community best practices.

This process gives communities the opportunity to influence where and how federal agencies implement fuel reduction projects on federal lands and how additional federal funds may support wildfire risk mitigation projects on non-federal lands.

Learn more about the community wildfire protection planning process from these guides created by our interagency partners:

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