This project will use these funds to contract with the southern illinois prescribe burn association to coordinate the prescribed burn program on private lands that intermingle with or near the shawnee…

Shawnee Resource Conservation received a $599,999 Project Grant awarded August 5, 2025, under the State & Private Forestry Hazardous Fuel Reduction Program (CFDA 10.697), administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service Region 9 - Eastern Region. The award funds a multi-year prescribed burn coordination initiative operating through June 1, 2030, in southern Illinois on private lands adjacent to or interspersed with the Shawnee National Forest. Through a contractual partnership with the Southern Illinois Prescribe Burn Association, the project will conduct prescribed fire treatments on approximately 7,500 acres and prepare an additional 6,000 acres for future burning operations, with work distributed across the project period due to planning requirements, seasonal constraints, and staffing limitations.

The funded activities include prescribed fire training and practitioner certifications, implementation of Firewise home assessments for wildfire risk mitigation, coordination with local fire departments, and community education on wildfire prevention and risk reduction. These services directly support the program's objective of restoring fire-adapted landscapes on non-federal lands while benefiting adjacent federal forest resources, consistent with the program's requirement that funded hazardous fuel reduction projects on private lands provide tangible benefits to nearby National Forest System lands.

This project will use these funds to contract with the southern illinois prescribe burn association to coordinate the prescribed burn program on private lands that intermingle with or near the shawnee national forest. The program consists of burning approximately 7,500 acres and preparing another 6,000 acres for burning. The funds would be used for prescribed fire training, prescribed fire practitioner trainings, conducting firewise home assessments, and coordination with local fire departments. By law, these projects are required to benefit nearby or adjoining federal lands. Treatment of private lands and educating landowners and communities of wildfire risk mitigation and prevention is crucial to protecting the nation's forests. This is a multi-year project as the work can't all be accomplished in a single year due to the planning, partnership, and seasonal work required and limited staff capacity.