Texas A&M Forest Service opens wildfire mitigation grants for Coryell County landowners

Wildfire risk in Coryell County is not an abstract planning issue for Gatesville, Copperas Cove, Evant and the rural land between them. Texas A&M Forest Service is now accepting applications for grants that can pay for brush clearing, defensible space and prescribed fire work before peak summer heat drives fire danger higher.

The 2026 application period for both the Mechanical Fuel Reduction Grant and the Prescribed Fire Grant runs from June 1 through July 14. The programs are reimbursement grants meant to reduce wildfire risk to communities and natural resources, and they are open to private landowners, homeowner associations, nonprofit organizations and city and local government entities in designated project areas.

For private landowners, the Mechanical Fuel Reduction Grant can reimburse up to $20,000 per landowner. The money is tied to hired contractor work, not do-it-yourself labor, and it is funded through the USDA Forest Service. Priority goes to projects that create defensible space within 0 to 100 feet of a home or structure, though treatments may extend out to 300 feet. Eligible work includes using hand tools, chainsaws, chippers and forestry mulchers or masticators to reduce brush and other fuel that can feed a fast-moving fire.

Prescribed fire projects are reimbursed at standard rates of $22.50 or $30 per acre, with acreage caps of 800 or 1,200 acres depending on the grant awarded. Texas A&M Forest Service said a certified and insured prescribed burn manager is required for all grants, a safeguard that keeps the burns controlled and tied to professional oversight.

The timing matters in Coryell County, where wildfire planning focuses on housing materials and condition, housing density, fire-prone vegetation, landscaping and defensible space around homes. The county’s Community Wildfire Protection Plan was built as a collaboration involving the Texas Forest Service, local fire departments and citizens, reflecting how quickly a grass or brush fire can threaten homes, pastures, roads and public facilities once weather turns hot and dry.

Texas A&M Forest Service said its mechanical fuel reduction program covers 39 Central Texas counties, and the agency awarded $155,000 to Central Texas landowners through the same grant in spring 2025. Those 39 counties have experienced 1,722 wildfires and 1,010,398 burned acres since 2005, a record that explains why mitigation funding matters before flames start. The agency’s broader Community Wildfire Defense Grant can provide up to $250,000 for a Community Wildfire Protection Plan and up to $10 million for projects in a CWPP less than ten years old, giving local governments and property owners another path to reduce exposure before the next fire season intensifies.