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With nearly two decades of experience in wildfire sciences, SWCA is a recognized expert in completing pre- and post-fire planning work and wildfire resilience throughout the United States.

We emphasize collaborative wildfire mitigation planning across large, multi-jurisdictional landscapes, working with federal, state, and local government agencies, non-governmental agencies, private industry, and communities. Successful resilience in the face of climate-driven wildfires requires planning ahead for all stages of the wildfire cycle: readiness, response, recovery, and restoration.

Our wildfire mitigation experts provide a full suite of services and customized plans to meet both large-scale regional needs and those of small communities aligning with the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy.

See more in-depth project examples on SWCA’s Wildfire Services StoryMap.

SWCA Wildfire Plan Examples

Colorado

Grand County

CWPP

The Grand County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) is the guiding document for fire and emergency managers, as well as agencies who manage land within Grand County. It includes a comprehensive risk assessment developed through desktop analysis and on-the-ground assessments. The County promotes public engagement in wildfire mitigation through the project hub site, story map, and project tracking tool.

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Colorado

Montrose County

CWP2

This 2024 update to the Montrose County CWPP was a collaborative effort to develop strategies that will help reduce the risks associated with wildfire both pre- and post-fire, within the WUI community and broader county landscape. The CWPP includes wildfire hazard assessment and watershed assessments that consider potential severe wildfire behavior, as well as post-fire debris flow, sedimentation, and flooding.

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California

Kern County

CWPP

The Kern County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) addresses hazards and risks of wildland fire throughout the county and makes recommendations for fuel reduction projects, public outreach and education, structural ignitability reduction, and fire response capabilities. Some of the highest-risk areas identified are communities located within and adjacent to National Forest land and the wildland-urban interface, as confirmed by the 2021 fires, particularly the French Fire.

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California

Three Rivers

CWPP

The Three Rivers community is situated in the Sierra Nevada foothills, where several fire-adapted ecological communities occur, and where many of the large wildfires in California have been occurring in recent years. The shifting climate, particularly rising temperatures, combined with changing wind patterns, and increasing temporal and spatial variability of water availability, are considerably escalating wildfire risk across California.

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California

City of Corona

Story Map & CWPP

In July 2021, SWCA released a story map to engage the public in the ongoing CWPP process for the City of Corona. The CWPP identifies priority areas where mitigation measures are needed to protect the city from irreplaceable life, property, and critical infrastructure losses because of wildfire.

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Alaska

Kenai Peninsula Borough

CWPP

The 2022 Kenai Peninsula Borough (KPB) Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) update provides a peninsula-wide scale of wildfire risk and protection needs, brings together all responsible wildfire management and suppression entities in the planning area to address identified needs, and provides a framework for future planning and implementation of necessary mitigation measures as KPB’s first peninsula-wide CWPP.

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Santa Fe CWPP
New Mexico

Santa Fe County

Story Map

SWCA worked with Santa Fe County Fire Department to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The SWCA Team developed an interactive Story Map to increase engagement with the Santa Fe County public during the Covid-19 Pandemic.

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Pope County CWPP
Illinois

Pope County

CWPP

SWCA developed the Pope County CWPP, a county-level plan that evaluates wildfire threat to communities and infrastructure, and identifies measures that homeowners, land managers, and fire departments can take to reduce the impact of wildfire to life, property, and other community values at risk.

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Colorado Post-Fire Playbook
Colorado

Colorado Post-Fire Playbook

Recovery Playbook

SWCA worked with multiple Colorado agencies and stakeholders to prepare a Post-Fire Playbook to serve Counties, Tribes, Municipalities, and Water Providers.

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Santa Clara CWPP
California

Santa Clara County

CWPP

SWCA developed the original 2016 Santa Clara CWPP and was contracted to provide the 2023 update, which included development of a hub site, story map, project tracker, and data portal. The CWPP is a countywide strategic plan with goals for creating fire adapted communities throughout the Silicon Valley planning area.

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Massachusetts

Dukes County (Martha’s Vineyard)

CWPP

SWCA developed an island-wide CWPP to address wildfire hazards to valued resources and assets across Martha’s Vineyard. The plan involved broad stakeholder participation, a comprehensive desktop analysis, and compilation of recommended actions to mitigate wildfire risk.

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Ute Park Fire
New Mexico

Ute Park Fire

Rehabilitation Plan

SWCA worked with multiple jurisdictions and stakeholders to develop a Damage Assessment and Burned Area Rehabilitation Plan for the Ute Park Fire in northern New Mexico.

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Valencia County CWPP
New Mexico

Valencia County

CWPP

SWCA developed the first CWPP in 2012, was retained to update the plan in 2018, and contracted again in 2022 to develop a project story map and hub site. The CWPP addresses the hazards and risks of wildland fire throughout Valencia County and makes recommendations for fuel reduction projects, public outreach and education, structural ignitability reduction, and fire response capabilities.

Read More  →

Relevant Services

Planning

Inventory and Assessment

Mitigation and Restoration

Compliance and Management

  • Environmental Assessments (EA)
  • Environmental Impact Statements (EIS)
  • Agency Planning Document Updates and Implementation
  • Identification of Grant and Funding Opportunities for Plan Implementation

Meet the Experts

Principal Fire Planner

Victoria Amato

Victoria has a background in forestry, fire ecology, and natural resource management and has managed and developed over 50 CWPPs and Fire Management Plans. She started with SWCA in early 2007 and now leads the company’s fire and forestry team. 

vamato [at] swca.com (Contact Victoria  →)
Certified Fire Ecologist/Director of Client Services

Dr. Cody Stropki

Cody has been researching and working with fire in the southwest since 2002. He is a certified fire ecologist and watershed science expert who focuses on pre- and post-fire mitigation to make landscapes more resilient to climate change.

cstropki [at] swca.com (Contact Cody  →)
Natural Resources Project Manager

Emily Geery

Emily began working in natural resources planning in 2006 with a focus on wildland fire policy and planning projects and water resources planning projects for local, state, tribal and federal government clients.

egeery [at] swca.com (Contact Emily  →)
Natural Resources Team Lead – Fire & Forestry

Arianna Porter

Arianna began working in the field of fire & forestry in 2016. She supports the team through project management, fire planning, client relationships, public outreach, technical writing, and field operations throughout the U.S.

arianna.porter [at] swca.com (Contact Arianna  →)
Lead Geospatial Scientist – Fire & Forestry

Liz Hitzfelder

Liz has been working with the fire & forestry team since 2019. She supports the team with wildfire modelling, geospatial analysis, advanced mapping, and custom web design (Hub Sites and Story Maps).

Elisabeth.hitzfelder [at] swca.com (Contact Liz   →)
Planning Technical Advisor - Fire

Mitch Burgard

Mitch has over 30 years of experience in wildland fire management, fire behavior analysis and fuels management with the NPS and the USFS. His expertise includes CWPP’s, structure and fuel assessments, and wildland fire compliance documents.

mitch.burgard [at] swca.com (Contact Mitch  →)
Planning Technical Advisor - Fire

Marlena Hovorka

Marlena has a diverse background in fire management, fire planning, fire behavior modeling, fire decisions support application development, and prescribed fire implementation. She has 30 years of wildfire experience working for the NPS and USFS.

Marlena.Hovorka [at] swca.com (Contact Marlena  →)