Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) are collaborative, community-driven frameworks that outline local priorities for wildfire risk mitigation. The toolkit includes resources to support those creating or updating a CWPP.
RESOURCES
ESTABLISHING CWPP PLANNING TEAMS
For communities either creating their first Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) or updating an older plan, one of the first steps you will take is to identify and convene a planning team. Each community is unique, and therefore, each planning team structure will likely differ based on your community’s distinct needs, capacity, and size.
DEFINING THE WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE
The wildland-urban interface (WUI) is where human development meets or mixes with natural vegetation. In the context of Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPP), the Healthy Forest Restoration Act provides maximum flexibility for communities to determine the substance and detail of their plans and the procedures they use to develop them. One of the benefits to communities in the CWPP planning process is the opportunity to establish a localized definition and boundary for the wildland-urban interface.
Use the resources below to learn how to define the WUI, the implications of defining the WUI, types of data to use to help define the WUI, the difference between a CWPP WUI map and the State WUI Building Code map, and considerations to take into account when defining the WUI.
FACILITATING THE CWPP SIGNATURE PROCESS
After successfully creating or updating your CWPP, you might wonder what comes next? For a CWPP to be finalized, it must go through a signatory process. The Healthy Forest Restoration Act requires that three entities must mutually agree to the final contents of a CWPP:
- The applicable local government (i.e., counties or cities);
- The local fire department(s); and
- The state entity responsible for forest management.
The following resources can help you move through the CWPP signature process efficiently and effectively.
LEARN MORE
Preparing a Community Wildfire Plan: a Handbook for Wildland-Urban Interface Communities
CWPP Portal and Data Library: Interactive map of CWPPs with vast resource library
SILVIS Lab: Publicly accessible global WUI map and dataset
An Exploration of the Next Generation of CWPPs: Summary of considerations for developing CWPPs
Blog Post: Revisiting CWPP’s: A summary of lessons learned and key resources
Wildfire Risk to Communities Website
Community Wildfire Protection Plan Evaluation Guide: Helpful guidance on evaluating, monitoring, and updating an existing CWPP
A Fire Service Leader’s Guide: a resource for those leading a CWPP process
