Two Spokane-area organizations win millions in federal grants for wildfire mitigation

The Spokane Conservation District has received $9.2 million and the Spokane Valley Fire Department $5.5 million in grant funds for projects to prevent wildfires.

While both organizations will be using those funds from the USDA Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant program differently, they have the same goal: reduce the devastation of wildfires in the county.

“This is one of the largest investments in wildfire prevention our department has ever received,” Deputy Fire Marshal Ken Johnson of the Spokane Valley Fire Department said.

The conservation district applied for the grant funding as part of the Spokane County Wildfire Mitigation Coalition, which includes several local organizations, according to Garth Davis, the forestry program manager at the district.

The Spokane County Parks Department, Spokane County Fire District 4, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Dishman Hills Conservancy and the Inland Northwest Land Trust will all receive portions of the funding. While the district is the main recipient of the grant funding, it will not receive a bulk of the funds.

The Forest Service awarded $57 million in Community Wildfire Defense grant awards to 10 projects in Washington and Oregon. The program is set to invest $1 billion to at-risk communities over five years.

About $3.4 million of the funds will go to Spokane County Parks for forest health and fuels reduction on its conservation properties, Davis said.

“They’ll be targeting small conifer trees that are too close together to spread those out, prune them up, reduce the ladder fuels that are going to take fire into the big trees,” Davis said. “It’s not cleaning up the forest floor. It’s actually taking out and separating smaller trees so fire can’t move horizontally.”

In fire mitigation, departments try to mimic what a fire does, Davis said, adding that while forests in the county will inevitably burn, the devastation of the fires can be controlled though such treatments.

“Everyone needs to understand the risk around this, even if you’re not a homeowner,” Davis said.

The Spokane Conservation District will use its portion of the grant funds for treatments across 3,000 acres of land, according to a release.

The district will use about $1.3 million of the grant funds for home site assessments, which is when a forester comes out to neighborhoods and talks with homeowners or landowners about how they can help their home survive a wildfire.

“All of the fuels reduction is one thing, but what is the most important factor on whether your house burns or not is what’s within 5 feet of it and what it’s made of,” Davis said.

The district will be targeting areas in the county on the edges of town and neighborhoods near forest areas. The district also is planning an advertisement campaign that will help educate people about fire mitigation. Efforts related to this grant will begin next spring and summer, Davis said. The grant funds will be received over a five-year period.

The conservancy will be using some of those dollars for fuels reduction around the Little Spokane River Valley, Inland Northwest Land Conservancy spokeswoman Maria Vandervert said in an email.

Spokane Valley Fire Department will use the $5.5 million it received on similar wildlife mitigation projects, primarily thinning out overgrown areas, chipping brush, removing dead trees and hazardous fuels. Johnson said the department is also planning on investing in community education so residents in the Valley know how to create a defensible space around their homes.

“The grant allows us to expand our capacity,” Johnson said. “Instead of just reacting to fires, we can take more proactive steps to reduce risk before a wildfire ever starts. It strengthens our prevention and mitigation efforts, while freeing up operational resources during fire season.”

The department’s focus will be on Liberty Lake, Millwood and parts of Spokane Valley, Johnson said. It is not common for the department to receive funding like this, Johnson said, so he is planning on stretching the money as much as possible.

“It represents a proactive shift in protecting our community, reducing risk to homes and infrastructure, and making our region safer for decades to come,” he said.