Kentucky Division of Forestry 2025 Community Wildfire Defense Grant

Nov 25, 2024

The USDA’s Forest Service is accepting applications for Round 3 of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program. This program, available to local governments, non-profit organizations, and tribal communities, provides funding for wildfire preparedness and risk reduction projects. The program also helps communities in the wildland-urban interface meet state wildland fire objectives in the Kentucky Forest Action Plan and the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.

Eligible applicants can request up to $250,000 to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Communities with an existing CWPP under 10 years old can request up to $10 million to fund projects outlined in their plan. Priority is given to applicants who:

Are located in an area identified as having a high or very high wildfire hazard potential;
Benefit a low-income community; or
Are located in a community impacted by a severe disaster within the previous 10 years.

To learn more about the program, view the CWDG Homepage. You can register for the applicant webinars or participate in the CWDG “Office Hours”. Dates and times are listed on the homepage. Visit Wildfirerisk.org to explore, understand, and learn ways to reduce your community’s wildfire risk. The website also hosts the CWDG Dashboard, which provides communities with a simple way to check their CWDG eligibility and priority status.

Counties that meet all priority criteria are listed below. These counties and their communities automatically receive 40 out of the total 100 points on the application and require NO Cost Share.

Bath
Estill
Laurel
McCreary
Pulaski
Bell
Floyd
Lawrence
Menifee
Rockcastle
Boyd
Greenup
Lee
Montgomery
Rowan
Breathitt
Harlan
Leslie
Morgan
Wayne
Carter
Jackson
Letcher
Owsley
Whitley
Clay
Johnson
Madison
Perry
Wolfe
Clinton
Knott
Magoffin
Pike

Elliott
Knox
Martin
Powell

The counties below are eligible to apply, but may only meet some priority criteria and may require cost share. Please visit the CWDG Dashboard to check priority status.

Adair
Casey
Grayson
Livingston
Nicholas
Allen
Clark
Green
Logan
Ohio
Ballard
Crittenden
Hancock
Lyon
Robertson
Barren
Davies
Hart
Marshall
Russell
Bourbon
Edmonson
Hart
Mason
Taylor
Boyle
Fayette
Hopkins
McCracken
Trigg
Butler
Fleming
Jessamine
Metcalf
Warren
Calloway
Garrard
Lewis
Monroe

Carlisle
Graves
Lincoln
Muhlenberg

The CWDG program is advertised on Grants.gov as USDA-FS-2024-CWDG-SGSF, with links to the Notice of Funding Opportunity Instructions and relevant materials. These documents are also attached to this email. Past applications are available publicly for review at cwdg.forestrygrants.org. The deadline to apply is February 28, 2025.

All funded applications must complete their projects within five years of the award date. Communities in Kentucky have already received $829,600 for CWPP development. The Kentucky Division of Forestry (KDF) assists communities throughout the application process, administers the funds to awarded applicants, and offers guidance to ensure successful project completion. If you are interested in the CWDG program, please contact KDF through one of our CWDG Specialists listed below:

Kessley Baker, CWDG State Coordinator, kessley.baker@ky.gov, 606-260-5651
Scott Shepherd, KDF Morehead Branch, scott.shepherd@ky.gov, 502-682-8227
Leigh Nedlo, KDF Pineville Branch, leigh.nedlo@ky.gov, 606-595-2317

Important:

The application can only be accessed through a link assigned to your agency by the State CWDG Program Coordinator. To request a link to the application, email kessley.baker@ky.gov.

Applicants must register in sam.gov to apply for a grant. Organizations must have an active registration with the System for Award Management (SAM.gov), which will generate a Unique Entity Identifier (UEI). Creating a SAM registration may take several weeks or more to complete. Therefore, ensure you apply for your SAM registration promptly.