The community wildfire defense grant program aims to assist at risk local communities and indian tribes in planning for and mitigating against the risk created by wildfire

The University of Nebraska, through its Board of Regents Office of Sponsored Programs, received a $24.8 million Project Grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service under the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act Community Wildfire Defense Grants program (CFDA 10.720), awarded November 6, 2025, with completion targeted for November 1, 2030. The grant funds three wildfire mitigation projects in Nebraska: the Brown County Mitigation Crew, Stop the Burn: Creating Resilient Working Lands for Brown County, and Stop the Burn: Creating Resilient Working Lands for Rock County. These projects aim to assist at-risk communities in planning for and implementing wildfire hazard mitigation on nonfederal lands, consistent with the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.

The University of Nebraska serves as the prime grantee administering funding to two sub-awardees: County of Brown and County of Rock (both awarded February 3, 2026). The projects prioritize communities in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential and support implementation of wildfire mitigation activities such as hazardous fuel reduction, defensible space creation, and community resilience-building initiatives. As a land-grant research institution with extensive experience in federal grant administration across agricultural and environmental sciences, the University of Nebraska provides grant management oversight while the county sub-grantees implement ground-level mitigation work to reduce wildfire risk in their respective communities.

The program helps communities implement the national cohesive wildland fire management strategy. IT prioritizes communities that are in areas with high or very high wildfire hazard potential, are low income, or have been impacted by a severe disaster that increases the risk of wildfire. The program is a response to reduce wildfire risk and enhance fire management strategies across the united states. The following projects have been selected for funding in nebraska. Brown county mitigation crew, stop the burn: creating resilient working lands for brown county, stop the burn: creating resilient working lands for rock county.