The conservation education program exists to support the education and awareness of educators, students and community members about montana s forest ecosystems and the important role of active…

The Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation received a $9.25 million Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664) on August 26, 2025, with a completion date of June 30, 2030. This award supports a comprehensive portfolio of forest management, wildfire risk reduction, and community resilience initiatives across Montana's non-federal forest lands. The grant funds six primary program components: (1) Conservation Education Program to promote awareness among educators, students, and community members about sustainable forest management and forest ecosystems; (2) Forest Health Management to assist private landowners and resource managers in building forest resilience against insects and diseases; (3) Landscape Scale Restoration Highway 12 Prescribed Fire Project to reduce uncharacteristic wildfire risk in a Montana Forest Action Plan priority area; (4) State Fire Capacity Program providing financial and technical support to enhance firefighting capacity and community-based wildfire mitigation; (5) Forest Stewardship Program delivering technical assistance and education to private landowners in active, sustainable forest management; and (6) Urban Community Forestry Program and Volunteer Fire Capacity Program supporting local fire departments and urban forestry initiatives in communities with populations under 10,000.

The grant leverages partnerships with multiple sub-awardees to implement on-the-ground projects and capacity-building activities. Sub-recipients include the City of Helena (Highway 12 Prescribed Fire and Fuel Reduction Project), Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (Calf Creek Wildlife Management Area Fuel Reduction), Bitter Root Resource Conservation and Development Area (Wildfire Resilient Bitterroot Valley and Wildfire Resilient Mineral County initiatives), Columbus Rural Volunteer Fire Department (Yellowstone River Ranch Project), and Clearwater Resource Council (Clearwater Watershed Hazardous Fuels). These collaborative efforts align with the 2020 Montana Forest Action Plan's identification of 507,611 priority acres in the wildland-urban interface requiring immediate treatment to reduce wildfire risk to communities.

The conservation education program exists to support the education and awareness of educators, students and community members about montana s forest ecosystems and the important role of active sustainable forest management, across the diversity of ownerships and goals and values, and a vibrant forest products industry. Forest health management funding supports the mission to assist private landowners and public, non-federal, resource managers in increasing forest resilience to insects and diseases. The landscape scale restoration highway 12 prescribed fire project will reduce the risk of uncharacteristic wildfires while improving important forest ecosystems in a montana forest action plan priority area. The state fire capacity program provides financial and technical support directly to the fire protection program to enhance firefighting capacity, increase effective response, support community based wildfire mitigation, and expand outreach and education to homeowners and communities concerning wildfire prevention. The 2020 montana forest action plan identified 507,611 priority acres in the wildland urban interface in need of immediate treatment to reduce wildfire risk to communities. Forest stewardship funding supports efforts to provide forestry assistance programs to private landowners in ways that embody multi-resource stewardship principles of active, sustainable forest management through education, technical assistance, and resource development. Urban community forestry program remains montana s authority for technical, financial, and educational. The volunteer fire capacity program benefits volunteer fire departments across montana that are comprised entirely of volunteer members, or no less than 80 percent volunteer members, and are located in a community with a population of less than 10,000.assistance to support local urban forestry programs.