FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 6, 2020
COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Texas A&M Forest Service is now accepting grant applications for the State Fire Assistance for Mitigation – Plains Prescribed Fire Grant through August 15. The grant will provide $81,000 in total funding for prescribed burns.
Funding will be provided to landowners and communities that have been, or may be threatened by wildland fire to reduce hazardous fuels. Properties in the panhandle, west and northwest Texas at high risk for loss during a Southern Plains Wildfire Outbreak are eligible.
Grant recipients will be reimbursed actual per acre costs associated with conducting the prescribed burn up to $30 per acre with a limit of 500 acres per recipient.
“Historically, fire has been a necessary tool to improve forage quality for grazing, enhance wildlife habitat and preserve soil nutrients on the rangelands of Texas,” said Jake Gosschalk, Texas A&M Forest Service Wildland Urban Interface Specialist.
Wildfires can be destructive when they occur at the wrong time or near a community that is unprepared. To plan ahead and mitigate these impacts, Texas A&M Forest Service works with landowners and local and county governments through Community Wildfire Protection Plans and the Texas Ranch Wildfire Program.
“Currently, conditions across Texas are dry, but landowners are already planning for prescribed fire treatments this upcoming fall during the cooler season,” said Gosschalk. “These prescribed fires reduce hazardous fuel loads and mitigate the threat of wildfire.”
Landowners located within two miles of a Community Wildfire Protection Plan or a Texas Ranch Wildfire Program will receive priority funding. Both programs enhance awareness of wildfire risk and empower individual landowners and the overall community to act to reduce the risk of wildfire in their areas. For more information on these programs visit: https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/TRWP/ and https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/ProtectYourCommunity/.
To check eligibility and complete the online application, visit https://tfsweb.tamu.edu/PrescribedFireGrantsApplication/.
Learn more about prescribed fire by visiting TFS Prescribed Burns or the TDA Prescribed Burning Board.
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Texas A&M Forest Service Contacts:
Jake Gosschalk, Wildland Urban Interface Specialist, jgosschalk@tfs.tamu.edu, (361) 571-6923
Andy McCrady, Fuels Coordinator, wmccrady@tfs.tamu.edu, (936) 689-9393