Snow is still at the top of urgent climate events in south central Montana right now, but wildfire season is on the horizon.
In Yellowstone County, emergency managers are asking communities to weigh in on a strategic plan that could help them pay for wildfire prevention efforts in the seasons to come.
Yellowstone County is updating its 20-year-old wildfire protection plan.
Yellowstone County Disaster and Emergency Services Manager Derek Yeager said the Community Wildfire Protection Plan will compile data about fire in the county, where it happens, how it behaves and what it threatens.
“Where do we stand the greatest exposure to loss from wildland fire?” said Yeager.
A Community Wildfire Protection Plan is something that communities or property owners can use to prove their exposure and pin down funding for tree removal, fuel thinning and other mitigations. Yeager says many government grant applications require a county-level plan like this.
“Almost all of such funding for things like hazardous fuel reduction or even individual homeowner sites, your own properties, almost all of that funding is held at the state and federal levels,” said Yeager
Throughout the month of February, the county is facilitating three open houses to help the public learn more about the plan and give feedback.
The first is in Lockwood Tuesday, February 11 at 6 p.m. at the Lockwood Fire Department.
The second is at 6pm February 18 on the third floor of the Stillwater Building in Billings in the Yellowstone County Board of Commissioners Conference Room.
The Laurel Volunteer Fire Department will hold the third and final community meeting on February 26 at 6pm at the movie theater and event center First on First.
