This $293,829 Project Grant from the USDA's Agriculture and Food Research Initiative (CFDA 10.310) supports research to investigate the potential of certain agricultural crops to serve as fire breaks and mitigate wildfire impacts in rural communities. The University of California, Merced will lead this one-year project focused on four rural counties in Washington and Idaho that were impacted by wildfires in 2024. The researchers will use participatory GIS methods to document how different crop types and management practices affect wildfire behavior, with the goal of creating a replicable protocol to guide future wildfire mitigation efforts in agricultural areas. The project will also develop educational materials to help local farmers implement fire-resistant crop choices in strategic locations. This research aims to identify new solutions for improving wildfire resilience in rural agricultural communities that often lack access to traditional forest-focused mitigation funding and resources.
Generated 1/28/25, 7:43 AM