Purpose
To help reduce high-risk fuels on private and non-federal public lands using prescribed burning to protect communities and aid ecosystem restoration.
Practices
Prescribed burning and implementation of fuels breaks via dozers, maintainers, or plows.
Eligibility
Landowners in 20 East Texas counties that contain concentrations of federal lands, have a high social vulnerability index rating, and high-risk fuels.
Application
Applications open online annually July 1 through Sept. 1.
About
The State Fire Capacity near Federal Lands in East Texas- Prescribed Fire Grant is designed to reduce the hazard of high-risk fuels on private and non-federal public lands through prescribed burning. Priority will be given to projects that meet both criteria. Priority will also be given to landowners that were approved the previous year but were unable to complete their burn project.
We will supply the grant recipient with an approval to burn letter when all required paperwork has been completed by the recipient. Any burning on an approved project before receiving an approval to burn letter may not be eligible for reimbursement.
Maximum total reimbursement per recipient
Grant recipients will be reimbursed actual per acre costs associated with conducting the prescribed burn not to exceed the maximum reimbursement rate of $30 per acre. No cost shares are involved with this grant program.
The maximum reimbursement rate for a project that received funding in the previous cycle of this grant and is reapplying for this current cycle is $22 per acre.
These rates are to encourage first entry burns and three-year fire return intervals, while leaving flexibility for individual sites and management programs to burn as often as every two years.
Application process
The prescribed burn must be completed by a Certified and Insured Prescribed Burn Manager.
Application packages must be submitted online by midnight Sept. 1, or they will not be considered for funding. No faxes, mailed, hand delivered, or e-mailed applications will be accepted.
All applicants will receive a notification of decision letter of either approved or denied. We will also publicize the listing of approved recipients on our website. No application deadline extensions will be granted.
Applicants must:
- Complete all landowner information.
- Complete all contractor information, including the vendor’s TDA license number.
- Include a comprehensive burn plan along with the “Burn Unit Location” information. The burn boss must sign and date their submitted burn plan. See the Texas Department of Agriculture website for details of a comprehensive burn plan.
- Latitude and longitude of burn unit (degrees/minutes/seconds).
- County and physical address of burn unit location or distance and direction to nearest intersection.
- Burn unit boundary map showing proposed burn perimeter, acres to be burned, coordinates, and aerial or satellite imagery as background.
- Box must be checked certifying that the applicant is the landowner or has the expressed permission of the landowner to submit the application on their behalf.
Additional information
- Burn units that received payments in the previous grant process are not eligible for funding in the current grant.
- Priority will be given to burn units approved in previous grant process but unable to complete their burn project.
- Burn units that were selected for funding and failed to complete their burns two years in a row will not be eligible for funding the following year.
- Multiple applications may be submitted per individual, but the grant is competitive, and selection will be based on the goal of reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfire near communities. Name on application, grant agreement, and invoice for payment must match. If a private certified and insured burn manager applies and conducts a burn on their own property, the invoice to the landowners should represent actual expenses incurred for the burn.
- We may contact and speak directly with the recipient’s burn vendor about burn dates after the recipient has received the approval to burn notification letter.
- Grant funds do not apply and will not be provided to reimburse charges for application or creation of burn plans by a private contractor.
- Grant funds will not be provided for equipment work or fire breaks that are itemized as a separate expense on the paid invoice.
- We may complete an on-site assessment prior to approval of the recipient’s application.
Approved applicants
- All grant documents including the agreement must be completed and signed by the applicant and approved by Texas A&M Forest Service before the prescribed burn can take place.
- We will make a short site documentation visit and take pre-burn photos of vegetation condition along with a final post burn inspection and photos of vegetation after the burn.
- We will supply the recipient with an approval to burn letter when all paperwork has been completed by recipient. Any burning on an approved project prior to receiving this notice may forfeit recipient’s prescribed burn funding.
- No exchange of land tracts will be allowed. Reimbursement is made only upon an approved contracted land tract.
- The recipient’s burn contractor should notify us at least 24 hours prior to the prescribed burn taking place. This notification does not represent an approval by Texas A&M Forest Service of the safety of the project, any review of environmental conditions, or liability for the burn manager’s decision to conduct the prescribed burn.
- Following the prescribed burn taking place, the recipient’s burn contractor should notify us and provide the number of acres that were treated and will be billed to the landowner. We will conduct a post-burn inspection promptly to verify the treatment acreage.