Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) play a critical role in building wildfire resilience across landscapes and neighborhoods. These collaborative planning efforts help communities identify wildfire risk, center local priorities, and connect neighbors, agencies, and organizations in shared goals for mitigation and preparedness.
Below, we’ve rounded up a selection of resources to support your next steps in CWPP development, implementation, or update.
Guide for Inclusive Engagement
One of the most powerful aspects of CWPP development is the opportunity to build relationships across sectors and communities. FAC Net’s Community Engagement Guide for CWPPs walks through practical strategies for planning, implementing, and maintaining community involvement, from early outreach to deeper partnership building. The guide includes a toolbox of worksheets and techniques to help your team build strong, inclusive processes that align with local values and goals.
Useful Toolkits & Templates
Whether you’re developing a CWPP from scratch, updating an older plan, or looking for region-specific guidance, the following resources provide concrete templates, examples, and standards:
California CWPP Toolkit — designed with CAL FIRE, FAC Net, Community Wildfire Planning Center, California FireSafe Council, and other partners, this toolkit offers comprehensive guidance tailored to California’s diverse communities and risk profiles.
Practitioner Voices: Lessons and Reflections
Across the fire adaptation space, professionals continue to reflect on CWPP practice and share lessons learned:
Many communities are “dusting off” older CWPPs to make them relevant again, tying updates to funding cycles like the Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) program. In this blog, FAC Net member Magdalena Valderrama highlights that focusing on actionable sections and clear priorities is one strategy for moving plans into implementation.
In 2020, FAC Net hosted a series of six webinars with Forest Stewards Guild on a variety of different topics related to CWPPs, with examples from several states. The YouTube playlist can be found here.
Looking Ahead: Connect, Share, and Grow
CWPPs continue to be a driver of community wildfire resilience work. Whether you’re in the early stages of your plan or preparing for your next update, tapping into shared resources, stories, and peer learning can make your efforts more effective and rooted in local context.
If you have a resource, story, or reflection related to CWPPs that you’d like to contribute, we encourage you to share your perspective and help others in the wildfire resilience community learn and grow!
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