The City of Grand Junction will receive funding for fire mitigation projects.

The city was selected as a recipient of Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program Workforce Development funding for 17 weeks of wildfire mitigation work valued at $184,212. The work will focus on the Colorado and Gunnison river corridors.

 “The Department of Corrections State Wildland Inmate Fire Teams (SWIFT) doing this work have already demonstrated excellence on other projects in our area, and we are excited to continue working with them to reduce wildfire risk in our community,” said Grand Junction Fire Chief Ken Watkins. “Without the people power provided by the Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program, these projects would not be possible for the next five to 10 years.”

Dan Gibbs, executive director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources, congratulated Grand Junction on receiving the grant. “Earlier this year I was able to visit with members of a Department of Corrections SWIFT doing similar work in Grand Junction to reduce wildfire risk in river corridors, and we are pleased to build on that project’s success with this current grant. COSWAP was created for precisely these types of projects in mind —to enable hand crews, like SWIFT, to work on fuel reduction projects to immediately benefit communities with a focus on protecting life, property and critical infrastructure.”

The project areas will cover about 70 acres and focus on removing invasive species to create shaded fuel breaks to protect infrastructure and areas with a history of fire that pose risks to people and property. 

The Grand Junction Fire Department selected the areas in collaboration with city finance, general services, parks and recreation, police, public works and utilities departments.
The fire department will manage the project. 

 The Colorado Strategic Wildfire Action Program was launched to quickly move $17.5 million in state stimulus funds to fuel reduction projects and increase capacity for forest restoration and wildfire mitigation.