REGIONAL— St. Louis County will be receiving $890,925 from the U.S. Forest Service to help plan for and mitigate wildfire risks within the county.
The county’s proposal was one of 100 projects selected nationwide to receive a portion of the $197 million through the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program, which is funded by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
For many years, St. Louis County has participated in the Firewise Program, which assists private property owners whose land is adjacent to federal land, to help them reduce wildfire risk on their property. This new grant funding will broaden the scope of this program to assist other private property owners in reducing their own wildfire risk.
The funding will be used to assist fire departments, lake and road associations, and township boards in the highest wildfire risk areas in St. Louis County to increase wildfire awareness, reduce fuels and provide opportunities to help their communities be more wildfire resilient. The county will provide more information to these organizations once details are finalized on how they can partner with the county in these efforts.
“We are thankful and excited to receive this funding,” said St. Louis County Sheriff Gordon Ramsay. “We’ve seen the positive results from Firewise, and so to be able to expand where we can offer these services will make a big difference.”
St. Louis County contracts with Dovetail Partners to coordinate Firewise and expects to continue working with them on the broadened program.