Missoula County is seeking to update the County's Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) that was last adopted in 2018. An initial Missoula County CWPP was completed in 2005, then updated in 2018 and was published alongside a story map. When complete, the updated CWPP will provide the county, its partners (federal, state, tribal, nonprofit), residents and other stakeholders with a one-stop resource to plan and implement projects in the areas of wildfire response, landscape restoration, vegetation management, hazard mitigation, community preparedness and structure protection.

The process will be informed by previous plans and based upon relevant data, historic wildfire patterns, local knowledge and perspectives, and our evolved thinking on the relative importance of reducing exposure and the potential for conflagration in neighborhoods and communities. The effort is partially funded by a Community Wildfire Defense Grant (CWDG) through the U.S. Forest Service and must comply with associated grant funding requirements.

Background and Context (see posted RFP for complete version of this section)

Missoula County encompasses 1,673,517 acres (approximately 2,600 square miles) in western Montana. It shares its southwestern border with the State of Idaho. Land ownership is distributed as follows: 53% Federal government (BLM, Forest Service, and other); 30% private landowners; 9% State government; 6% Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes; and 2% among other, local government, and water.

Within Missoula County, there is only one incorporated community, the city of Missoula, and most of the county's growth (approximately 87%) has happened within the urban area of Missoula, roughly half within the city and half within the county. Unincorporated communities including Frenchtown, Huson, Clinton, Turah, Bonner/Milltown/West Riverside, Condon, Seeley Lake and Potomac/Greenough are scattered across the county and they range in population size from less than 100 to almost 5,000.  In addition, a portion of the county is within the boundaries of the Flathead Reservation, and Missoula County has a strong history of collaboration with the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes related to emergency response, land management, conservation and land use planning.

Homes in Missoula County have, on average, greater risk than 96% of counties in the US. Missoula County continues to see steady pressure to grow and accommodate new housing.

Project Scope, Timeline and Deliverables

Updating the CWPP involves two key project elements with the potential need for separate contracted services for each element: 1) CWPP preparation which will involve significant stakeholder engagement and public outreach and creation of a digital/online platform and 2) county risk analysis and community hazard assessment. A consultant or consultant team may select to respond to one or both project elements. If two separate consultants are selected, the consultant selected for preparing the CWPP will lead and collaborate with the consultant selected for the risk analysis/community hazard assessment to incorporate this work into the larger project. Consultants will work at the direction of a county project management team and will be further guided by a CWPP steering committee/core team comprised of leadership from Missoula County; the city of Missoula; local, state and federal land and fire response agencies; and planning departments.

Project elements are further described below.

Element #1 - CWPP preparation.

Public engagement. A successful CWPP consulting team will include skilled facilitators who will develop a robust engagement strategy to help connect the community to this project and then bring more people in throughout the process. Stakeholders will include, but not be limited to, residents and landowners, entities that manage community facilities and infrastructure, emergency responders, land and resource managers, conservation district, community-based organizations and groups who represented traditionally underserved or vulnerable populations. The public outreach and engagement element will include a minimum of three rounds of in-person meetings to be held across the city and county jurisdictions. Anticipated tasks include the following:

1. Identify a list of stakeholders who live, work and own property in Missoula County, manage infrastructure, provide emergency response, manage lands and natural resources, community-based organizations, and organizations that represent traditionally under-served or vulnerable populations.
2. Work with the city and county communications teams, to develop and distribute information and collect feedback about the CWPP project including workshop announcements, meeting minutes, draft documents, etc. through various outlets including Missoula County Voice, press releases, public notices, postcard mailings, other websites, community councils and neighborhood councils, and social media.
3. Conduct a series of public stakeholder workshops (at least 4 per series – west, south, northeast, urban core) along with attending meetings of existing groups across Missoula County and the city of Missoula that focus on the following themes:
   1. Understanding wildfire risk and the home ignition zone.
   2. Identifying preferred strategies for increasing community resilience to wildfire.
   3. Reviewing and providing feedback on the CWPP, particularly the action plan.

Throughout the public participation process, explore public perceptions, motivations and barriers associated with community wildfire resilience, particularly as it relates to private property mitigation.

Anticipated Timeline: Months 1-18

Public Engagement Deliverables: Public engagement and outreach report that includes documentation of outreach including list of stakeholders, copies of legal notices and advertisements, meeting minutes, sign-in sheets, meeting handouts, press releases, earned media clippings, etc. Target outcomes: three education campaigns, 24 meetings, 360 (non-agency) people engaged.

CWPP Document Preparation. The consulting team will use information from the public process, risk analysis and hazard assessment and other relevant information to draft and finalize a CWPP that is approximately 50 pages in length with an executive summary that can serve as a strategic document that identifies the issues today's communities face, the three pillars for creating a cohesive CWPP strategy and the proposed solutions to create fire adaptive communities. It will include sections related to 1) creating wildfire compatible communities and ignition resistant homes, 2) enabling ecological restoration, 3) supporting effective and appropriate management and response and 4) a call to action in the form of an action plan. The CWPP should include narrative that is supported by data, maps and graphics and the document must be professionally designed and formatted and visually engaging. Anticipated tasks include the following:

1. Develop a relationship with the core team and set up a project management system.
2. Conduct public engagement and outreach.
3. Draft the plan.
4. Include a description of the hazard and risk analysis.
   1. Identify areas potentially affected by wildfire, including demographics, location, topography and climate.
   2. Define the problem, including fire history, current fire protection resources and projected trends.
   3. Define and delineate the wildland urban interface per federal designation and in compliance with grant requirements.
   4. Define and prioritize values and assets that could be severely impacted by wildfire.
   5. Identify critical considerations and prevention opportunities for the natural environment, including potential treatment areas and approaches, restoration projects and communities, neighborhoods and community infrastructure and assets.
   6. Describe response capability and capacity.
5. Prepare the community action plan as a “call to action”.
   1. Provide a vegetation management strategy that identifies and prioritizes critical locations within and surrounding communities, neighborhoods and critical infrastructure and facilities.
   2. Provide a landscape restoration strategy to improve landscape resilience to wildfire.
   3. Provide a strategy for reducing exposure of new development via land use planning.
   4. Provide a strategy to increase ignition resistance for communities and neighborhoods – both existing and new development – that uses structure hardening, home ignition zone principles and current data on structure ignition in wildfires. Identify priority areas and propose strategies for enhanced protection and reduced structural ignitability of new and existing homes particularly in areas most exposed to wildfire via ember ignition and/or structure to structure spread.
   5. Develop strategies for resilience of residents, structures and infrastructure in the event of wildfire.
6. Distribute and make the draft CWPP available to the technical advisory committee, stakeholders and public.
7. Incorporate feedback into the final CWPP.
8. Assist in the adoption of the CWPP by Missoula County and the City of Missoula.

Anticipated Timeline: Months 6-18

CWPP Document Preparation Deliverables: Draft CWPP, final CWPP, city and county resolutions to adopt the CWPP.

Digital/online platform. A successful consulting team will include a web designer to wireframe a website and integrate the CWPP and hazard/risk assessment with the county's existing website and the Wildfire Ready Missoula County website. The website will provide an online version of the CWPP as well as a downloadable copy. It will also provide a repository of resources and data for users. It will include tools and best practices for addressing risk to homes, neighborhoods and communities. It will also include the CWPP action plan in a format that allows for tracking progress. The platform will be easy-to-use and in a friendly format such that diverse audiences are engaged to access, download and interact with wildfire information for Missoula County. Anticipated tasks include the following:

1. Wireframe the website and integrate with Missoula County website and Wildfire Ready Missoula County.
2. Collect and collate geospatial data and organize into appropriate GIS map layers.
3. Produce data layer of priority projects from updated CWPP.
4. Compile additional layers relevant to design and implementation of multi-benefit wildfire mitigation projects (e.g., watersheds, sensitive species, historic and cultural resources, etc.) to be toggled on and off depending on the interest of user.
5. Compile and integrate written information from the CWPP and the CWPP itself as content for the website, including a trackable version of the action plan that Missoula County can continue to update through implementation.
6. Test and deploy the website.

Anticipated Timeline: Months 6-15

Digital Platform Deliverables: CWPP website/online platform.

Element #2 - County hazard/risk assessment.

The county will procure a contractor skilled in conducting hazard/risk assessments to assist with public education and outreach and to incorporate into the plan, including a wildfire hazard analysis, community hazard assessment, and creation of a series of community scale maps. A technical advisory committee will be created comprised of subject matter experts in risk/hazard assessment, historic and current data analysis, geospatial overlays, fuel behavior and spread, and transmission modeling. The technical advisory committee will collaborate with staff, the core team, contractors and stakeholders to define the hazard/risk assessment project goals, establish quality standards for deliverables and provide technical expertise. The consulting team for this element will work with the CWPP consultant (if under a separate contract) core team/steering committee, and technical advisory team to prepare this project element. Anticipated tasks include the following:

1. Identify and establish a technical advisory committee of subject matter experts in wildfire risk modeling and behavior to guide, evaluate, vet and resolve conflicts and considerations regarding a countywide hazard and risk assessment.
2. Conduct a spatial wildfire hazard analysis to form the basis for understanding wildfire threats, mitigation and management.
   1. Characterize potential wildfire behavior using numerical and simulated computer models.
   2. Verify fuels mapping data.
   3. Use best available science and modeling tools to evaluate wildfire behavior on wildlands and associated risk to structures (both current and planned), critical assets and infrastructure and population areas.
   4. Evaluate ember cast transmission and critical vulnerabilities to the built environment based on existing and planned development to determine priority areas for mitigation.
   5. Check accuracy of modeling via local expertise including county staff, land management agencies, emergency responders and technical advisory committee.
3. Conduct a community hazard assessment to identify risks posed by wildfire.
   1. Identify values and assets (life, homes, businesses, infrastructure, facilities, natural resources, economic resources) at risk and which values and assets face the greatest expected loss.
   2. Identify and evaluate the need, feasibility, potential and/or capability of existing and planned vegetation management areas, safety zones for wildland fire professionals, helispot or helibase sites, staging areas, growth management to reduce exposure, home hardening priority areas, neighborhood planning and possible evacuation and local preparedness.
4. Create a map series for use in the CWPP and the website that communicates the concepts and findings with residents, elected officials and stakeholders.
   1. Define areas where development and wildfire risk are occurring and intersecting, e.g., the wildland urban interface or WUI.
   2. Define and display adjacent jurisdictions and land ownership where transboundary transmission may be likely.
   3. Identify structures and areas anticipated for future growth and development most at risk to wildfire ignition via ember cast, radiant heat and/or direct transmission.
   4. Identify community socioeconomic demographics to help direct and prioritize resources, outreach materials and assistance.
   5. Highlight potential sensitive habitats and cultural/historic resource areas.
   6. Produce maps with associated layers that depict results of the hazard and risk analysis.

Anticipated timeline: Months 1-9

Deliverables: Risk analysis, community hazard assessment, documented methodology, and maps.