The volunteer fire capacity the funding will provide financial, technical, and related assistance to rural volunteer fire departments to conduct preparedness and mobilization activities, including…

The Department of Agriculture Forest Service Northern Region awarded $9,068,896 to the Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation on August 24, 2026, under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance program (CFDA 10.664) to support forest management, wildfire mitigation, and conservation activities in Montana through July 31, 2031.

The award funds financial, technical, and related assistance to rural volunteer fire departments for preparedness and mobilization activities, including training and equipping response capacity for wildfire prevention, control, and suppression on rural lands and in rural communities. The funding also supports the State Fire Capacity Program to enhance firefighting capacity, increase effective wildfire response, and expand outreach and education to homeowners and communities concerning wildfire prevention. Montana's 2020 Forest Action Plan identified 507,611 priority acres in the wildland-urban interface requiring immediate treatment to reduce wildfire risk.

Additional activities include the Forest Stewardship Program, which educates and assists private forest landowners in forest resource management and multi-resource stewardship, with support for stewardship plan monitoring and sampling methods. The Forest Health Management Program assists non-federal landowners and resource managers in preventing, identifying, and managing forest insects and diseases. The Conservation Education Program provides technical training and experiences to increase professionalism among employees, volunteers, and partners in delivering quality educational services. The Urban and Community Forestry Program serves as Montana's primary source of technical, financial, and educational assistance for community forestry.

Performance occurs in Montana.

The volunteer fire capacity the funding will provide financial, technical, and related assistance to rural volunteer fire departments to conduct preparedness and mobilization activities, including training, equipping, and otherwise enabling response to requests for the prevention, control and suppression of fires occurring on rural lands and threatening rural communities. The urban and community forestry program serves as montana's primary source of technical, financial, and educational assistance for community forestry. 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. The state fire capacity program provides financial and technical support directly to the fire protection program to enhance firefighting capacity, increase effective wildfire response, support community-based wildfire mitigation, and expand outreach and education to homeowners and communities concerning wildfire prevention. Forest stewardship program efforts to educate and assist private forest landowners in important forest resource areas in a way that embodies multi resource stewardship principles. Funds will also support stewardship plan monitoring and sampling methods. Plans and subsequent accomplishments will be gathered and submitted in the reporting systems. The forest health management program assists non-federal landowners and resource managers in preventing, identifying, and managing forest insects and diseases. The program's plan of work addresses several priorities outlined in the montana forest action plan. The conservation education program addresses a national priority of the forest service by providing technical training and experiences that increase professionalism in employees, volunteers, and partners to enable them to participate in the delivery of quality educational experiences.