Barnstable County Gets Grant To Update Wildfire Plan

CAPE COD, MA — Cape Cod has been awarded a $143,500 Community Wildfire Defense Grant from the U.S. Forest Service to update the region’s Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan, officials announced.

The update will provide the Cape’s 15 towns with new wildfire risk maps, town-specific strategies, and an online hub of resources designed to keep forests healthy and communities safe.

“This is a huge win for Cape Cod,” said Mike Maguire, Director, Cape Cod Cooperative Extension. “Healthy forests make a resilient Cape. With our partners, we’ll be updating wildfire risk maps, preparedness strategies, and community resources that make Cape Cod safer now and for the future.”

Cape Cod’s pitch pine barrens and scrub oak landscapes are naturally fire-prone, and more than 100,000 acres of open space lie where forests and neighborhoods meet.

The last wildfire preparedness plan was completed in 2012. Since then, drought conditions, brush buildup, and new development have increased wildfire risks across the region. In 2022 alone, officials said, Cape Cod experienced over 100 wildfires.

The updated plan will pay special attention to wildfire-prone areas like the pine barrens of Truro and Wellfleet, the wooded fire corridors of Eastham and Provincetown and densely settled zones in Bourne, Sandwich and Harwich Port.

It will also address wildfire risk in key federal lands, including Monomoy and Mashpee National Wildlife Refuges and Joint Base Cape Cod, where natural landscapes and infrastructure face increasing fire challenges, officials said.

“Cape Cod’s forests are some of the most fire-prone in the state,” said Dave Celino, Chief Fire Warden for the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR). “This grant will give firefighters and communities the most current science and strategies to help reduce risk. DCR is proud to partner with Barnstable County, the Cape Cod towns, and the U.S. Forest Service on this important work.”

Officials said work will begin this fall with data collection, mapping and outreach starting in late 2025. A draft plan will be released in 2026, followed by the final regional wildfire preparedness plan and the new public online hub.