Hello COSA community,
We invite you to register for the March 10, Noon-1pm kickoff session of the Wildfire and Watershed Initiative for Resilient Colorado’s (WWIRC) Local Funding Opportunities Webinar Series. WWIRC is advancing statewide sustainable public-private funding strategies to enhance the pace and scale of wildfire risk reduction and watershed resilience.
About the Series: Creating and Leveraging Funding from the Local Level and Beyond is a four-part virtual Lunch & Learn webinar series hosted by the Wildfire and Watershed Initiative for Resilient Colorado (WWIRC). Designed for private and public sector partners, the series provides practical, non-partisan education on local and regional public funding strategies that support wildfire mitigation, forest restoration, and watershed resilience. The webinars explore local taxing mechanisms, regional funding models, conservation finance tools, and the enabling conditions needed to move projects from planning to implementation. Learn more at Events | WWIRC.
Session 1: Overview of local funding opportunities and insights from jurisdictions with local funding measures, March 10, 2026, 12-1pm MT.
This session provides an overview of local taxing authorities, mechanisms, and other funding opportunities that communities can use to fund wildfire mitigation, forest restoration, conservation, recreation, and watershed resilience by exploring examples and lessons from communities using established funding tools. Register here: https://keystone-org.zoom.us/meeting/register/LzcAZlt2Qn6uTY41waPXYg#/
Session 1 Speakers:
- Jason Swann, Conservation Finance Program Director, Trust for Public Land
- Chief Brad White, Grand Fire Protection District No. 1
- Allegra Waterman-Snow, Eagle County Conservation District
- Jay Sage and/or Dan Dertz, Douglas County
Upcoming sessions: More details at Events | WWIRC:
- Session 2: Exploring Regional Models for Local Funding, March 31, 2026, 12-1pm MT
- Session 3: Leveraging Conservation Finance Tools at the Local Level, May 12, 2026, 12-1pm MT
- Session 4: Enabling Factors and Opportunities for Building Local Funding at Scale, June 9, 2026, 12-1pm MT
We encourage you to please forward this information to your networks. The series is open to all interested in learning more about local wildfire risk reduction and watershed resilience funding strategies. Attendees are invited to join one or all sessions.
For more on WWIRC, please visit www.wwirc-wildfire.org, sign up for updates, and follow us on LinkedIn.
Hope to see you soon,
Julie
Julie Shapiro
Senior Policy Director
Director, Center for Natural Resources
Keystone Policy Center
1628 Sts. John Road
Keystone, CO 80435
(970) 471-5087 (cell)