Senate Bill 21-258 (SB21-258) provides one-time state stimulus funding to the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to increase the pace and scale of fuels reduction for wildfire risk mitigation across the state to protect life, property and infrastructure. Per statute, DNR is partnering with the Colorado State Forest Service and Division of Fire Prevention and Control to design and implement this program. DNR hired two term employees in September 2021 to lead implementation over the next three years. DNR created the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program, a unique opportunity that enhances workforce development through the Colorado Youth Corps Association and the Department of Corrections State Wildland Inmate Fire Team crews, and an additional opportunity to focus fuels reduction investments in strategic areas of the state to protect life, property and infrastructure. 

The Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) Executive Director’s Office is the primary manager of the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program. DNR hired two, three year term employees to manage the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program. Per statute, all decisions are made collaboratively between Colorado State Forest Service, Division of Fire Prevention and Control and DNR in accordance with a memorandum of understanding between the three entities. 

The Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program is a one time, special release initiative with the requirement that funds be obligated by June 30, 2023.

SB21-258 called for the U.S. Forest Service to send a National Incident Management Organization (NIMO) Team to Colorado to perform a comprehensive risk analysis to identify the most strategic locations in the state for investments in fuels reduction. Due to the active 2020 fire season a NIMO Team was not available, however Region 2 of the U.S. Forest Service made its fire and fuels experts available. Subject matter experts from the U.S. Forest Service, Colorado State Forest Service, Division of Fire Prevention and Control, Bureau of Land Management, National Parks Service, and the Colorado Forest Restoration Institute at Colorado State University formed the Rapid Fuels Reduction Assessment (RFRA) team to perform the comprehensive risk analysis. Over the summer and fall of 2021 a core team analyzed federal and state risk assessments to determine the most strategic areas for fuels reduction work to guide the current distribution of the Wildfire Mitigation Capacity Development Fund. 

Municipal, county, state, state-operated, federal, Tribal, and private lands as applicable to the funding programs offered through the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program.

COSWAP’s Workforce Development Grant is currently closed for applications. The first funding round was open from February 1, 2022 to May 31, 2022. Stay tuned for information on the next round of grants.

Participation in COSWAP’s Landscape Resilience Investment is by invitation only. DNR coordinated directly with county leadership and Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative leaders in the Strategic Focus Areas to administer the Landscape Resilience Investment program

All projects must be focused on reducing wildfire risk to property and critical infrastructure. SWIFT and conservation corps projects must be appropriate for hand crew work. This includes, but is not limited to, forest thinning, fuelbreaks, chipping and/or biomass removal. Individual defensible space projects are not eligible. The Landscape Resilience Investment program focuses on cross-boundary hazardous fuel reduction projects, including prescribed fire and planning efforts, that create project connectivity across a landscape to reduce wildfire impacts to communities. 

1. The Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program takes a targeted approach to reducing wildfire risk in Colorado, where the majority of the funding is focused in seven counties (Larimer, Boulder, Douglas, Jefferson, El Paso, Teller and La Plata) and the Rocky Mountain Restoration Initiative focal areas. COSWAP also has a state level component for the DOC-SWIFT crews. COSWAP is one time funding that needs to be obligated by June 30, 2023 and can be spent on federal, state, state-operated, private municipal, county and tribal land.
2. The Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation (FRWRM) program is a statewide competitive grant program through the Colorado State Forest Service. Eligible applicants include local community groups, local government entities such as fire protection districts, public and private utilities, state agencies, and non-profit groups. The grant program supports fuels and forest health projects, and/or capacity building projects.
3. Matching contributions for FRWRM may be in the form of private, state or federal support for the project. State funds may be used as match; however, no more than 50 percent of the applicant’s matching funds can come from another state funding source. An exception is made if the applicant is a state agency, where more than 50 percent of matching funds can then come from a state source. Please contact your regional Colorado State Forest Service office for more information.