Wildfire Risk Reduction Program

Teton Conservation District helps landowners reduce the risk of property damage from wildfire and improve safety through community outreach and education, grant funding, and on-the-ground actions.

Teton Conservation District also works to advance wildfire risk reduction as a member of the Teton Area Wildfire Protection Coalition, a group working to implement the Community Wildfire Protection Plan and wildfire risk reduction projects.

About the Wildlife Risk Reduction Program

There are steps you can take to reduce the risk of your home being lost to a wildfire. Teton Conservation District provides two types of support to private landowners:

1. Wildfire Risk Overviews: Teton Conservation District provides free site visits and voluntary recommendations to help landowners understand and reduce wildfire risk around residential and commercial structures, as well as on undeveloped lands with a residential or commercial building permit.

2. Grant Funding: Teton Conservation District has grant funding available to help private landowners implement wildfire risk reduction projects. Up to 50% in matching grant funding, not to exceed $3,000, may be awarded for projects that fully complete the voluntary vegetation management recommendations. See more details in our Program Guidelines.

Program steps

STEP 1: Read our Program Guidelines. If you have questions, contact Robb Sgroi at 307-733-2110 or robb@tetonconservation.org.

STEP 2: Fill out the online form to request a Wildfire Risk Overview. Site visits are available to a limited number of properties each year; TCD will contact you on a first-come, first-serve basis to schedule the site visit.

STEP 3: The site visit takes place with the landowner (or landowner’s representative) and TCD staff or TCD contractor at the landowner’s property. Site visits are conducted during normal business hours on weekdays between April 15th to October 15th each year. Following the visit, an Overview is emailed to the landowner describing voluntary recommendations.

STEP 4: TCD grant funding is available to a limited quantity of landowners, on a first-come, first-served basis. Therefore, to reserve grant funds for your project, complete the Commitment of Funding Form and return it to TCD. TCD staff must sign and return the document to you before the project is initiated.

STEP 5: The landowner implements the project through any combination of contracted (e.g. arborist) or homeowner labor.

STEP 6: After partially or fully completing the project, contact TCD to request an inspection. TCD will inspect the project and provide an Inspection Report.

STEP 7: After receiving the Inspection Report, the landowner must submit a Reimbursement Form and supporting documentation within the contractual timeline (specified in the Commitment of Funding Form) in order to receive grant funding. Supporting documentation that should be submitted electronically with the Reimbursement Form includes:

Contractor Receipts/Invoices: Landowners who hire a contractor must obtain receipt(s) or invoice(s) that include the following information:
- Landowner’s name and physical address
- All dates the work occurred
- A description of work completed
- Note: Treatments not described in the Wildfire Risk Overview should not be listed on the contractor’s receipt or invoice; if they are, they should be crossed out and denoted as separate.
Landowner Labor & Equipment: Use this template to submit a record of landowner hours, including dates and hours worked and type of work completed. See “Landowner In-Kind Labor & Equipment Rates” section below for details.

STEP 8: After receiving the Reimbursement Form and supporting documentation, TCD will issue grant funding in the form of a check within approximately two weeks.