Previous Projects for Fire Mitigation & Recovery
SPAWP is a Fundraising Source Charity and a Conduit in applying for Reimbursement Grants matching fire mitigation or land recovery project expense receipts for private property owners and public projects. SPAWP does not custodian the awarded State or Federal Grant dollars in advance to disperse.
AIM CO-CO Awards SPAWP Pass-Through Grant for Creating Employment for Administration Contractors
SPAWP (Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Prevention) awarded reimbursement funds via AIM (Action Implementation and Mitigation) – via CO-CO.org (Coalitions & Collaboratives) through an agreement they have with the (USFS) U.S. Forest Service Federal Funding and National Association of State Foresters. Joining in a partnership of fellow fire and fuel-reduction practitioners. The Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Protection (SPAWP) has just been awarded a 12 month reimbursement pass-through based grant from the AIM CO-CO.org Partnership. SPAWP competed with organizations all over the US for this US Forest Service funding for staffing, studies, and training. This grant will allow the organization to be reimbursed to hire an Independent Contractor part-time Executive Director and an Independent Contractor Wildfire Mitigation Specialists and provide training.
Project Summary and Objectives: Strengthen SPAWP’s implementation capacity by funding a part-time Executive Director and a Wildfire Mitigation Team. This team will (a) coordinate project implementation and community engagement, (b) facilitate wildfire mitigation planning and training in fuel mitigation assessment, and (c) revitalize an existing Firewise Community and establish 3 new ones. The grant will provide money to hire a part-time Executive Director for project implementation, recruitment of volunteers, and public outreach. Other positions include Wildfire Specialists to provide assist new Firewise Communities, training, and planning for the future projects. Training will develop skills for the residents to become S-212 certified sawyers and to carry out Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) and defensible space assessments of homes.
The AIM (Action Implementation and Mitigation Program) Seeks to increase local capacity and support wildfire risk reduction activities in high-risk communities. CO-CO (Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc.) provides direct support to place community based Wildfire mitigation organizations through pass-through grant funding, on-site engagement, mentoring and training on proven best mitigation practices to funded groups on accomplishing wildfire risk-reduction actions, in order to ensure programmatic sustainability at a local level; teaching technical expertise and subject matter, expert resources to help adaption goals. Awards are intended to help accelerate these concepts, increase resiliency and local capacity in protecting firefighters and communities. Funding is provided to a wide array of organizations.
This project reduces risks to assets, loss of Human lives and Wildlife as well as creates work employment for Contractors.
Special thank you to:
CSFS – Mitigation Reimbursement Grant FRWRM Awardee
SPAWP (Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Prevention) awarded an allocation for the opportunity to receive a matching expense reimbursement via CSFS (Colorado State Forest Service) State Funding: SPAWP continues to apply for allocation funds for matching reimbursement costs to work with community members to help landowners to recover approved portions of expenses incurred to mitigate the areas on their land or around their homes to prevent destruction by wildfire. These Funds are Reimbursement based on a matching percentage and type of qualifying paid expense receipts for projects completed. The passage of House Bill 20-1057 during the 2020 Colorado legislative session provided updates for the Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation (FRWRM) grant program, administered by the Colorado State Forest Service (CSFS). The FRWRM program was created during the 2017 legislative session when the Colorado General Assembly passed Senate Bill 17-050, which consolidated the Colorado Forest Restoration Grant Program (previously administered by the CSFS) and the Wildfire Risk Reduction Grant Program (previously administered by the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (CDNR)).
This competitive grant program is designed to assist with funding community-level actions across the entire state to: reduce the risk to people, property, and infrastructure from wildfire in the wildland-urban interface (WUI); promote forest health and the utilization of woody material including for traditional forest products and biomass energy; and encourage forest restoration projects.
This project reduces risks to assets, loss of Human lives and Wildlife as well as creates work employment for Contractors.
Special thank you to:
AIM CO-CO Awards SPAWP Pass-Through Grant for Creating Employment for Administration Contractors
SPAWP (Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Prevention) awarded reimbursement funds via AIM (Action Implementation and Mitigation) – via CO-CO.org (Coalitions & Collaboratives) through an agreement they have with the (USFS) U.S. Forest Service Federal Funding and National Association of State Foresters. Joining in a partnership of fellow fire and fuel-reduction practitioners. The Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Protection (SPAWP) has just been awarded a 12 month reimbursement pass-through based grant from the AIM CO-CO.org Partnership. SPAWP competed with organizations all over the US for this US Forest Service funding for staffing, studies, and training. This grant will allow the organization to be reimbursed to hire an Independent Contractor part-time Executive Director and an Independent Contractor Wildfire Mitigation Specialists and provide training.
Project Summary and Objectives: Strengthen SPAWP’s implementation capacity by funding a part-time Executive Director and a Wildfire Mitigation Team. This team will (a) coordinate project implementation and community engagement, (b) facilitate wildfire mitigation planning and training in fuel mitigation assessment, and (c) revitalize an existing Firewise Community and establish 3 new ones. The grant will provide money to hire a part-time Executive Director for project implementation, recruitment of volunteers, and public outreach. Other positions include Wildfire Specialists to provide assist new Firewise Communities, training, and planning for the future projects. Training will develop skills for the residents to become S-212 certified sawyers and to carry out Home Ignition Zone (HIZ) and defensible space assessments of homes.
The AIM (Action Implementation and Mitigation Program) Seeks to increase local capacity and support wildfire risk reduction activities in high-risk communities. CO-CO (Coalitions and Collaboratives, Inc.) provides direct support to place community based Wildfire mitigation organizations through pass-through grant funding, on-site engagement, mentoring and training on proven best mitigation practices to funded groups on accomplishing wildfire risk-reduction actions, in order to ensure programmatic sustainability at a local level; teaching technical expertise and subject matter, expert resources to help adaption goals. Awards are intended to help accelerate these concepts, increase resiliency and local capacity in protecting firefighters and communities. Funding is provided to a wide array of organizations.
This project reduces risks to assets, loss of Human lives and Wildlife as well as creates work employment for Contractors.
Special thank you to:
SPAWP Ongoing Support of NFPA Programs and Education
SPAWP (Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Prevention) supports and endorses the NFPA (National Fire Protection Association) standards and guidelines are supported by SPAWP and further collaborated with and supported Huerfano County, CO Department of Emergency and Disaster Management in promoting ongoing educational sessions training Fire Fighters and Residents to support the community in NFPA standards in hardening residences and buildings to lessen the impact of Wildfire destruction. The programs offer a certificate to participants who can then share their knowledge with individuals in the communities and encourage private property owners to aggressively mitigate “Harden their homes” to the threats of Wildfire or Neighborhood fires.
Education topics include: Top Fire Causes, Regional Risks, Seasonal Fire Causes, Specific Groups at Risk, Behavioral Risks and Wildfire.
Special thank you to:
SPAWP Provides ARWC Letter of Support Letter of Support for ARWC Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative Projects by SPAWP
SPAWP’s Board of Directors Team successfully negotiated a large landowner to invest in mitigating their own property to protect the surrounding community in reducing fire risks. This project helps the forest become healthier by thinning the trees to conserve water and give the wildlife a better environment. Some of the trees removed were re-located to help a neighboring county with a river erosion prevention project.
Anytime private land is properly mitigated it creates more value for them and everyone around them! Thanks to SPAWP’s Grant submission for landowners, Partial reimbursement for this project cost was from Colorado State Forest Service.
Special thank you to:
SPAWP Provides ARWC Letter of Support Letter of Support for ARWC Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative Projects by SPAWP
SPAWP (Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Prevention) writes letter of support for ARWC (Arkansas River Watershed Collaborative) which is a hub for community driven fire mitigation, forest health, watershed flow, water quality, stream restoration and post fire collaborative efforts, with a focus on prevention of the destruction of key watershed that supplies Communities with thousands of Family Homes, Business’s, Military Bases, Pipeline Associations, City Municipalities, irrigation for Ranch and Farming Agriculture. Also important to commerce and preservation is one of the Nation’s most scenic and visited Lakes on the renowned “Highway of Legends” scenic southern Colorado Hwy 12, which runs through the San Isabelle National Forest. ARWC has been very successful in completing rehabilitation reclamation projects and will be a key Organization and could further support Wildfire mitigation through shaded fuel break and similar types of projects before fire occurs.
This is a fantastic collaborative SPAWP is supportive of between ARWC and the USFS/USDA San Carlos Ranger District (San Carlos RD) of the Pike/San Isabel National Forests & Cimarron/Comanche National Grasslands together Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project reducing Wildfire damage, supporting healthy fire-resistant trees by reducing the unhealthy tree population overgrowth and ground fuels mitigation. Post-wildfire floods destroy critically dependent (rivers/creeks) watershed that would be deployed by sediment flow after a wildfire event. Fuel reduction on Federal Lands is a valuable important alignment which also helps SPAWP maximize the treatment projects on private land mitigation projects. When rain comes down over a burn scar, these barren slopes allow the rainwater to move exponentially downhill creating massive land, rock and debris down the mountainsides. The highly erosive materials found in our region further complicate problems with flooding and sediments damaging our fresh water supply for humanity and wildlife habitat.
The Arkansas River Basin Supplies has experienced the damage of wildfires Hayden Pass Fire, Spring Fire and Decker Fire. Chaffee, Las Animas and Huerfano Counties depend on watershed supply for survival, if they lose their watershed supply, this would literally create abandoned communities where there are currently vibrant economically sustainable communities and visitors from all over the world. ARWC and SPAWP strive to facilitate in building stronger partnerships throughout the adjoining Counties as these projects protect water shed by increasing the health of the Ponderosa Based Forests into healthy sustainable lands by decreasing the dense overgrowth population of trees and ground growth that are over competing for water resources.
This project reduces risks to assets, loss of Human lives and Wildlife as well as creates work employment for Contractors. Supporting ARWC efforts to seek funding from the National Forest Foundation.
Special thank you to:
AIM / CO-CO.org / Huerfano County SPAWP - Red Hill Shaded Fuel-Break Mitigation Demonstration Area
SPAWP (Spanish Peaks Alliance for Wildfire Prevention) Board Members and Volunteers raised donation funds to contribute as well as headed and coordinated collaborative efforts with Huerfano County, with Private Land Owners and local Forestry Mgmt Contractors. The appreciation and gratitude for the proactive efforts and programs managed that COCO and Huerfano County provided additional supporting funds to our community in making the AIM Redhill Demo Project possible.
The collaboration created a demonstration area that shows the public how reducing overcrowded trees, bushes and other overgrown forest fire burning fuels within the CSFS Standards and guidelines of “Shaded Fuel Breaks”. Reducing fire hazards, by completing an expanded area and show the public what shaded Fuel Break projects look like and contribute to healthy forest environments. This will also support further community education in our region Proactivity is key, we look forward to showing the community the area that was completed with pride and continue many future projects together with your valuable organization.
This project reduces risks to assets, loss of Human lives and Wildlife as well as creates work employment for Contractors.
Special thank you to:
AIM-Red Hill Project
The AIM-Red Hill Project entailed shaded fuel break mitigation of approximately 14 acres along Colorado State Highway 12 beginning just north of Red Hill and extending south past, and including, the entrance to the Pine Haven subdivision. Funding for this work came from the Action and Implementation for Mitigation (AIM) program, offered through Coalitions and Collaboratives (COCO). It was facilitated with help from the County, publicly donated monies and volunteer hours for the matching portion of the $3,500 provided by SPAWP.
2019 CSFS Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation
SPAWP received another grant on March 16th from the Colorado State Forest Service. The $63,092 awarded is a reimbursement/matching grant under their Forest Restoration and Wildfire Risk Mitigation (FRWRM) program. The funds help to further reduce heavy wildland fuel loads of dead and decaying trees, trees too close to buildings and roads, lower tree limbs or ladder fuel and brush.