Montana Forest Action Plan Grants work to help mitigate wildfire risk

HELENA — The Montana DNRC is releasing a second spherical of the Montana Forest Motion Plan Grants. These grants fund tasks that work to scale back wildfire threat and enhance forest well being.

“In Montana, we face vital wildfire threat and forest well being points throughout the state on all land ownerships. And so, alternatives like this are crucial to permit native teams, organizations, collaboratives to take a number of the duty and possession of this drawback and begin fixing it at an area scale with options that they have been capable of take part in,” says Performing Deputy Forestry Division Administrator for Montana DNRC, Wyatt Frampton.

As a result of an extra of cash within the State’s Hearth Suppression fund, the Montana DNRC was capable of provide these grants for the primary time within the winter of 2020. The state is now opening up a second spherical of funding for grants between $100,000 and $500,000. These grants are supposed to reimburse tasks that work to enhance forest and wildland well being and scale back wildfire threat. Profitable tasks typically contain a number of collaborating companions working throughout boundaries.

“And one of many precedence landscapes that was recognized included the South Hills of Helena space, which is simply behind me. For a wildlife, wildfire hazard safety there is a excessive threat right here. We’re proper on the sting of the Metropolis of Helena metropolis limits. And we have now some very dense forest situations,” says Good Neighbor Authority Forester with Montana DNRC, Gary Ellingson.

Ellingson helps to facilitate a venture within the South Hills of Helena. A grant was given in the course of the first spherical of funding to scale back wildfire threat in about 200 acres of this precedence panorama. Their venture passes over personal land, BLM land, and US Forest Service land and works to mitigate wildfire threat.

“If left untreated, you already know, we’d count on, because of the heavy gasoline loading in these areas we’re planning to deal with, you already know, there is a excessive potential for intense, you already know, wildfire conduct. And so, and we’re proper up towards the town limits,” says Ellingson.

The deadline to use is November sixth.