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Community Ambassador Partnership

The Community Ambassador Partnership is a program that strives to create resilient neighborhoods capable of effectively preparing for, responding to, and recovering from wildfires through grass-roots education efforts, collaboration, and community engagement. The people living in the communities of Idaho represent a vast amount of untapped potential for building interest and coordinating the growth and sustainability of wildfire resilience efforts statewide.

By engaging in this partnership, you and your neighbors will be connected with trusted wildfire education partners, you will be made aware of opportunities to get assistance with mitigation projects, and more. As a Neighborhood Ambassador, you will be your neighborhood's point of contact for local firefighting entities, and more.

Program Objectives:

  1. Community Education: Raise awareness about wildfire risks, prevention strategies, and emergency preparedness measures among neighborhood residents.
  2. Building Networks: Foster collaboration and communication among neighbors, local authorities, and wildfire mitigation professionals to enhance community resilience.
  3. Empowerment: Empower residents to take proactive measures to reduce wildfire risks on their properties and within their neighborhoods.
  4. Sustainability: Establish a sustainable framework for ongoing community engagement, education, and collaboration to maintain resilience over time.

Benefits for Ambassadors:

  • Opportunity to make a positive impact and contribute to community resilience.
  • Access to specialized training, resources, and networking opportunities.
  • Recognition and appreciation from neighbors, local authorities, and community stakeholders.
  • Personal and professional development through leadership and community engagement experiences.

How to Get Involved:

Start by reviewing the Neighborhood Ambassador Resource Guide.

As an ambassador you will also be asked to fill out a track any hours you spend working on wildfire adapted activities. This information helps us keep track of program outcomes, report out to our partners, and is used as an in-kind match on some of our grant applications. You can also use these hours as an in-kind match for grant applications you plan to pursue for your neighborhood. As an Ambassador, you can enter your neighbor's hours or show them how to enter their own time.

Your time can include, but is not limited to time spent:

  • educating neighbors
  • traveling to and attending Ambassador Partnership meetings and workshops
  • presenting at an HOA/POA meeting
  • grant writing
  • coordinating mitigation projects (using grant money)
  • preparing mailings
  • walking your subdivision and discussing mitigation needs with us, our partners and/or neighbors
  • installing address signs
  • Posting wildfire education information on Web sites, blogs, and bulletin boards
  • researching – mitigation standards, etc.
  • Time YOU (not a contractor) spend mitigating your property

We can also receive credit for your mileage so be sure to track your miles spent driving to meetings, renting mitigation equipment, etc. Estimates are fine. Your time does not need to be entered by the day. You can put in a start date and in the comments sections, write a note like January – March hours, or 2024 hours. Download our Volunteer Hours Tracker

Are you an interested individual seeking to become an ambassador in order to educate yourself about wildfire?

Provide your contact information HERE

Are you representing a community or neighborhood group seeking to take steps to prepare for wildfire?

Provide your contact information HERE

Current Opportunities

Chipping flammable vegetation

Reimbursement for Community Chipping Events (funding for 2024 is fully committed at this time, but ask us to put you on our list to be notified when we have more funding available)

We are currently offering reimbursement for costs associated with hosting a community chipping event after April 1, 2024 until funding is expended. This program encourages the chipping of slash from flammable vegetation conducted on any privately-owned property in Idaho. You may choose to rent a chipper yourself or hire a mitigation company to provide chipping services, assuming all requirements are met.

HOAs/communities are eligible for a reimbursement of up to $2,000 per event of chipping expenses. You may choose to rent a chipper yourself or hire a mitigation company to provide chipping services. You must fill out an Idaho Firewise volunteer application and record a minimum of 15 volunteer hours per event to be eligible for reimbursement.

 

All reimbursement applications must provide:

  • completed copy of the volunteer application below (for the main ambassador or organizer)

  • copy of all invoices/receipts

  • a completed volunteer tracking form logging 15 hours of volunteer time

  • a minimum of two photos of the chipping activity

Downloadable Chipping Event Resources:

Chipping Event FAQs, Chipping Event Checklist, Volunteer Application, Volunteer Hours Tracker, Customizable Event Flyer

The chipping reimbursement program is made possible by grant funding from the National Fire Protection Association, State Farm, and Idaho Department of Lands

Contact Us

Ivy Dickinson, Executive Director
ivy@idahofirewise.org

210 E 7th St. Moscow, ID 83843

phone/fax: 208-310-7472

EIN 27-2535008

Our Partners

Bureau of Land Management Idaho Department of Lands Idaho Fire Chiefs Association Idaho Office of Emergency Services Idaho Project Learning TreeIdaho Parks and Recreation   University of Idaho Extension Forestry  USDA Forest Service