Wildfire mitigation is imperative for improving community resilience to wildfires. Currently, across the country, communities and property owners are implementing successful wildfire preparedness efforts, resulting in on-the-ground risk reduction. Established in 2014, the national Wildfire Mitigation Awards program recognizes outstanding work and significant program impact in wildfire preparedness and mitigation. By honoring the achievements of awardees, the program sponsors aim to enhance public recognition and awareness of the importance of wildfire mitigation efforts. Getting the public to understand wildfire is a year-round, national challenge, but every investment made makes a difference in reducing wildfire risk.
The Wildfire Mitigation Awards (WMAs) are jointly sponsored by the National Association of State Foresters (NASF), the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC), the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), and the USDA Forest Service. The program includes three awards: (1) the National Wildfire Mitigation Award, (2) the National Mitigation Hero Award, and (3) the Wildfire Mitigation Legacy Award. WMA partners will cover a portion of the travel and hotel costs, as well as the full registration costs for 2026 awardees, to attend the in-person awards ceremony at the 2026 Wildland-Urban Interface Conference in Reno, Nevada.
Effective community fire adaptation efforts can take many shapes. Creating a local mitigation coalition, implementing community wildfire protection plans, conducting community-wide assessments, promoting defensible space and home hardening, treating for hazardous fuels, and engaging fire departments and building code officials to reduce wildfire risk are all great examples of wildfire mitigation work.
You can submit a nomination and view the nomination guidelines and selection criteria here on NASF’s website. All nominations for the 2026 Wildfire Mitigation Awards must adhere to this criteria and submitted online by Wednesday, January 7, 2026. To meet past Wildfire Mitigation Awardees, go to stateforesters.org/wildfire-mitigation.
Have questions? Please contact Lauren Holtzclaw at lholtzclaw@iafc.org.
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