Overview
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program provides grants to at-risk communities to develop or revise a Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and to carry out projects described in a CWPP that is less than 10 years old.
CWDG is authorized through the Infrastructure, Investment, and Jobs Act (IIJA) and provides $1 billion for this program over a five-year period (fiscal years 2022 through 2026). CWDG prioritizes at-risk communities that are in an area identified as having high or very high wildfire hazard potential, are low-income, and/or have been impacted by a severe disaster.
CWDG helps communities in the wildland urban interface (WUI) implement the three goals of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy (Cohesive Strategy).
Round 3
Announcements
For Round 3, the CWDG tool will only use the low-income criteria for cost-share waiver eligibility. This change was implemented in February 2025, partway through the Round 3 application period. Due to this change, the application deadline has been extended to March 14, 2025.
Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Eastern Standard Time on March 14, 2025. Applicants are strongly encouraged to develop proposals in consultation with state or Forest Service regional cooperative fire contacts listed in the Notice of Funding Opportunity.
Timeline
The portal opened for applications on November 21, 2024, and closed on March 14, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time.
Application Materials
PDF application for Round 3 - The PDF version is not required but is available to help applicants compile all information offline before adding their application information to the portal application.
To apply for Round 3 of CWDG, please reach out to the point of contact for your State/Island. Point of contact information can be found in the Notice of Funding Opportunities (NOFOs) on grants.gov. NOFOs have been updated to reflect recent changes.
- West NOFO: USDA-FS-2024-CWDG-CWSF
- Tribes NOFO: USDA-FS-2024-CWDG-TRIBES
- Northeast/Midwest NOFO: USDA-FS-2024-CWDG-NEMW
- Southern NOFO: USDA-FS-2024-CWDG-SGSF
Office Hours
The Forest Service will be offering periodic "office hours" for applicants throughout the application period. Office Hours will not be recorded. Registration is not required.
Office Hours Zoom Meeting Schedule:
February 19: 2-4 p.m. ET / 12-2 p.m. MT
February 26: 3-5 p.m. ET / 1-3 p.m. MT
March 5: 2-4 p.m. ET / 12-2 p.m. MT
To join by Zoom, use the following information:
Zoom Link
Meeting ID: 849 7031 2284
Passcode: 528561
You will need to enter the six-digit passcode to join the meeting.
To join by phone, call:
+17193594580,,84970312284# US
+17207072699,,84970312284# US (Denver)