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Coeur d'Alene - The Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) was recently awarded a $7.5 million Community Wildfire Defense Grant through the United States Forest Service for the Shoshone I-90 Hazardous Fuels Project. This is the single largest grant award for a project in IDL's history. IDL and Shoshone County are teaming up on this monumental wildfire risk mitigation project that will help communities in the Silver Valley area.
Expanded rural development coupled with narrow access roads, creates a high-risk environment for residents, recreationists, homes, and emergency responders. This project is a direct response to the increased threat of wildfires in this area known as the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI).
"This project builds on years of work with Shoshone County and is essential to addressing the goals of expanding wildfire risk mitigation efforts" said Tyre Holfeltz, IDL Wildfire Risk Mitigation Program Manager. "It's about making the landscapes of Shoshone County more resilient while reducing risk to communities by connecting and expanding similarly completed and planned efforts on private, state, and federal lands".
The project will focus on an 18,890-acre area of high-risk forestland and aims to treat 1,275 acres of private land. This effort will directly benefit thirteen communities found along the I-90 corridor, to include Cataldo, Kellogg, Mullan, and Wallace. The project will implement hazardous fuels reduction treatments, such as thinning and creating fuel breaks, to reduce wildfire impacts to the landscapes of Shoshone County.
Implementation is scheduled to begin in early spring 2026 and is expected to be completed by the end of 2030. IDL’s cooperator Shoshone County will work with landowners to provide wildfire education through community events, and contracted mitigation with project participants.
Additional details will be available from Shoshone County. Landowners may begin their own wildfire preparation efforts for homes and property by reviewing information from Idaho Firewise.
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