SOUTH WASCO CO.—Wildfire preparedness took center stage at the Wasco County Board of Commissioners meeting on Feb. 19 where county officials discussed the next steps in securing additional federal funding to enhance fire mitigation efforts.
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG), a federal program managed by the U.S. Forest Service (USFS), provides funding to communities at risk of catastrophic wildfires. The grant supports projects that help reduce fire hazards, strengthen emergency response infrastructure, and educate residents about fire prevention.
Wasco County, which previously received $5.9 million in 2024 for fire mitigation efforts in south county, is now seeking an additional $631,000. The new funding would allow the county to expand its wildfire defense work to include Mosier, Rowena, Chenoweth, and potentially Petersburg.
“We’re requesting board approval to seek this funding opportunity,” said Melissa Napoli, Wasco County’s wildfire coordinator. “The funds will help us continue our work in high-risk areas by adding fire mitigation crews, placing water cisterns, and expanding community education efforts.”
Napoli and her team are finalizing the proposal and seeking letters of support from key partners, including Oregon State University, the Oregon Department of Forestry, and the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s Office. The application deadline for the grant has been extended to March 15, following recent policy changes.
Napoli informed the board that Wasco County qualifies for a cost-share waiver, meaning the county does not need to contribute matching funds for the grant. This makes it easier to secure funding without placing additional financial strain on local budgets.
Columbia Gorge News reached out to Napoli and the planning department asking if ongoing federal cuts to USFS have the potential to impact CWDG, but has not received a response at the time this article was printed.
The county’s proposal includes a two-person fire mitigation crew for the Mosier area, focused on creating defensible space around homes and properties. Defensible space is a buffer zone around a structure where vegetation and flammable materials are cleared to slow the spread of wildfires.
Additionally, the county plans to install four above-ground, 12,000-gallon water cisterns in strategic locations throughout Mosier.
The proposed $631,000 in new funding would allow Wasco County to expand its wildfire defense work.
Image courtesy Wasco County
“Currently, they have one source to resupply their water tenders in a fire incident, and that source is at the Mosier school,” Napoli explained. “So when there’s a fire incident in the south part of that fire district, or really anywhere outside of Mosier city limits, they have to drive back to Mosier and then back to the incident site. It’s a lot of time spent driving to go resupply.”
The grant would also support Mid-Columbia Fire and Rescue (MCFR) in Chenoweth, where a seasonal crew would be established to perform similar fire mitigation work. The focus area in Chenoweth includes Murray’s Addition, Foley Lakes, and parts of Chenoweth Loop Road.
Community education and defensible space
The proposal also includes funding for two community education events per year in the project areas. These events aim to help residents understand wildfire risks and teach them how to maintain defensible space around their properties.
“That’s an important part of making these kinds of projects sustainable,” Napoli said, “because we can cut down all the plants, but they have a tendency to grow right back. So teaching folks about defensible space and how to do their own work to protect their homes is really key too.”
Commissioners agreed on the importance of education, emphasizing that reducing wildfire risk requires collaboration between local government, fire agencies, and residents.
Project boundaries and potential gaps
While commissioners expressed support for the grant proposal, concerns arose regarding areas left out of the current fire mitigation plans.
“We’ve got South County, Mosier, and Chenoweth covered,” said Commissioner Scott Hege. “But we have this little island out there, the only area in the county that’s not covered and there’s a lot of density up there.”
“We are missing large swaths of land [in] Maupin and southward,” chimed in Community Development Director Kelly Howsley-Glover. “We’re also not able to address a lot of farmland to the east, so this project is another step to start to blanket the county.”
Napoli acknowledged the concern, committing to speak with MCFR about this area. She pointed out that funding and personnel constraints make it difficult to expand beyond the grant’s current scope.
“We don’t have exact boundaries yet,” said Planning Director Daniel Dougherty.
The staff and commissioners discussed several recent fires and their starting points in these vulnerable, wildfire-prone areas.
Howsley-Glover added that the CWDG dictates stringent boundaries for these grant-funded projects based on the income of residents.
“One of the criteria that we looked at intently and discussed at length with the fire districts is really focusing in on our low income communities, and so the footprint really correlates to income pockets,” she said.
•••
Are you a resident of south Wasco County? The Wildfire Coordinator office is conducting a brief survey online at forms.gle/KNcYu6P6diTJifdB8.
Commented