COLLEGE STATION, Texas (KRHD) — The Texas A&M Forest Service is awarding nearly $1 million in grants to private landowners across Texas to help prevent wildfires through prescribed burns.
Each year, the agency distributes hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants to support wildfire prevention efforts.
“They're federal funds that are passed to our agency that we then pass through to the private landowners to conduct their own prescribed burns,” a spokesperson for the Texas A&M Forest Service said.
This year, $951,000 will be awarded to 168 landowners. The grants allow property owners to hire certified and insured professionals to conduct controlled burns on their land.
“It’s for private landowners to be able to hire a certified and insured prescribed burner to conduct prescribed burns on their property,” the spokesperson added.
Prescribed burns help reduce the risk of large wildfires by eliminating dry vegetation that could fuel uncontrolled fires.
“When we set these fires under controlled situations, we're aiming to get rid of the duff layer—the things like the grasses, the needle cast, the small shrubs, the things like that—that can easily carry into larger fires in the summertime,” the spokesperson explained.
The Texas A&M Forest Service has been offering these grants for over a decade, and officials say they have seen a significant impact.
“We have actually seen success stories where a wildfire is coming into an area, and then it comes up against an area that has been prescribed burned in previous years or in the year previous to the wildfire. And you actually can witness that fire behavior change,” said Karen Stafford, a representative from the Forest Service.
Applications for the grants open once a year on the Texas A&M Forest Service website, and all landowners are encouraged to apply.