Financial Assistance for Reducing Wildfire Risk

During a wildfire all kinds of plant material can act as fuel for the fire - grasses, shrubs, trees, dead leaves, and fallen pine needles. The extent and density of this plant material around a structure, like your home, can influence the ability of firefighters to stop the fire from igniting the structure. By thinning and managing fuels out to 100 feet you’re creating a buffer area between a build-up of fuel for the fire (dense vegetation) and your home, lowering the intensity of a fire as it approaches your home. We call this buffer area your home’s defensible space.

With the cost of everything going up, spending money to thin and remove trees on your property may be the last thing you want to do. We don’t want the cost of wildfire mitigation work to stop you from taking care of your home. That is why we sought funding to help residents complete their mitigation priorities to build and maintain their home’s defensible space. Through our mitigation cost-share assistance program the cost of tackling projects to reduce your wildfire risk can be cut in half!

Mountain Valleys RC&D is offering 50% reimbursement rate to homeowners who hire a contractor or rent equipment to build a defensible space by managing vegetation within 100 feet of their home and 10 feet from their driveway.

This program currently assists primary residents living in the following Western North Carolina counties: Buncombe, Madison, Henderson, McDowell, Polk, Transylvania, Cleveland, & Rutherford Counties.

Learn more from this blog post, Mitigation Cost-Share Program.