Apply for CPAW Technical Assistance

Free wildfire planning support for your community — applications accepted through July 31, 2026

What is CPAW?

The Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) program helps communities across the United States reduce wildfire risk through improved land use planning, compelling communication, and applied research. All services are grant-funded and provided at no cost to participating communities.

Selected communities typically receive one year of direct technical assistance from CPAW staff and partners.

Learn more about the CPAW program →

Who can apply?

Any community in the United States may apply, including towns, cities, counties, and tribes. The applicant must have authority over local land use and zoning decisions.

Homeowners associations, subdivisions, and other neighborhood organizations are not eligible to apply directly but are encouraged to contact their local planning department to pursue a community application.

Application timeline

Milestone	Date
Applications close	July 31, 2026
Decisions delivered	September 30, 2026
MOU & onboarding	December 2026
Work begins	January 2027

Selected communities are asked to sign a one-year memorandum of understanding and commit staff time to work with the CPAW team. Exact commitments vary by type of assistance.

Apply for CPAW assistance

Name

First

Last

Title

Organization

Community Name

Any community in the U.S. can apply, including towns, cities, counties or tribes. The applicant must have authority over local land use and zoning decisions.

Tell us about your community's wildfire risk and your interest in our program.

What type of wildfire risk reduction assistance is your community interested in?

Auditing land use, development, and municipal codes to identify wildfire-related vulnerabilities, strengths, and potential amendments to increase wildfire resilience.
Incorporating wildfire risk reduction measures into existing plans, such as comprehensive plans or hazard mitigation plans.
Adopting a wildfire building code, or including wildfire risk reduction measures in a land use code.
Adopting a landscaping ordinance or amending an existing ordinance to reduce wildfire risk.
Exploring ways to reduce wildfire risk to historic structures and districts.
Producing wildfire risk educational materials for the public and elected officials.
Identifying strategies for enforcing and implementing a wildfire building code.
Other

Select all that apply. Please note: CPAW does not write Community Wildfire Protection Plans, and our team does not conduct home assessments or fuel mitigation projects.

other and What