Public Comments sought for Community Wildfire Plan

The draft Wildcat Hills Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) Update for Banner, Cheyenne, Kimball, Morrill, and Scotts Bluff Counties is ready for public review. Draft copies of the document have been mailed to county offices and are available to the public online at https://nfs.unl.edu/documents/CWPP/WHCWPP.pdf. Comments will be accepted until July 9, 2021.

County boards, emergency managers, fire department personnel, and other stakeholders worked with the Nebraska Forest Service to update the 2015 CWPP. This plan is a wildfire-specific resource that coordinates with area emergency and hazard mitigation plans. Part of a statewide network of CWPPs, the plan provides information useful to local emergency responders and those from outside the area who provide mutual aid.

Landowners in counties with a CWPP are eligible to apply for federal and state cost-share funds for woody fuels reduction. The plan may also provide increased opportunities for counties, municipalities, and rural fire districts to seek grant funding for other activities related to fire protection.

Comments will be accepted via email to [email protected] (preferred) or they may be sent via US Postal Service to the Nebraska Forest Service, Attn: Sandy Benson, PO Box 830815, Lincoln, NE 68583-0815.