Grants and cost-share help for defensible space

Program availability changes, often with little notice. This page reflects official public pages as we reviewed them in November 2026. It is not a complete catalog, not a promise that you will be funded, and not tax or legal advice. Confirm eligibility, deadlines, and remaining funds with the agency that runs the program before you hire anyone or start work. Some programs will not pay for work that began before approval.

Homeowners looking for help with defensible space or home hardening in Oregon and Washington usually run into three kinds of offers: a free assessment (advice, not money); a cost-share or reimbursement paid to a landowner or to a contractor after approved work; and a grant to a city, fire district, or nonprofit, which may then run a short local program for residents. Statewide “current grants” lists are often written for agencies, not for individual households. The useful move is to start with a free assessment, then ask your fire district, county emergency-management office, and conservation district what is open this season.

Oregon

Free defensible-space assessments (Oregon State Fire Marshal)

As of November 2026, the Oregon State Fire Marshal’s defensible space page still offers free, education-focused assessments through OSFM and fire-service partners. A fire-service member walks the property with you and makes recommendations. That visit is a solid first step and is sometimes a prerequisite for local financial help. You can also email OSFM.DefensibleSpace@osfm.oregon.gov.

Older OSFM PDFs describe a 2024 defensible-space assessment incentive (a $250 payment in selected communities). That program is not listed on OSFM’s current defensible space page, and we are not treating it as open. If you find an old flyer, ask OSFM whether anything like it is running now.

Community Wildfire Risk Reduction grants go to agencies, then sometimes to residents

OSFM’s Investments for Oregon page, as reviewed in November 2026, listed one item under “Current Grants”: the 2026 Wildfire Season Staffing Grant, which funds fire agencies, not household projects. The same page documents past Community Wildfire Risk Reduction (CWRR) awards, including a 2024 “for the Built Environment” round that funded defensible-space and community-protection projects at cities, counties, and structural fire agencies (awards announced November 2024, in a stated range of $50,000–$75,000). Those awards are how money often reaches homeowners: a local program, with its own map, deadline, and rules, after the agency received a state grant.

One local program we could verify as still inviting applications in mid-November 2026 is the Josephine County Defensible Space Project, described as a partnership between Josephine County Emergency Management Firewise and an OSFM CWRR grant. As of that county page, on November 12, 2026:

• The stated application deadline was November 20, 2026, with work to be completed no later than December 18, 2026.
• Focus communities were Merlin, Williams, Takilma–O’Brien, the Redwood Avenue area of Grants Pass, and Selma.
• The program may provide up to $2,500, or the lowest of three qualified contractor bids, whichever is less, at the program’s discretion, paid to a licensed, bonded, and insured Oregon contractor after verification — not to the homeowner, and not to an unlicensed company.
• Funds were described as limited and first-come, first-served, with a wait list if demand exceeded capacity.

By the time you read this, that window may be closed. We include it as a concrete, sourced example of how local CWRR-funded programs work, and as a reminder to check the county page for the current status rather than assuming the November 20 date is still open.

Other local reimbursement windows open and close in a single season. We are not listing programs whose own pages already said they were closed or fully allocated.

Oregon Department of Forestry small-forestland grants

ODF’s Small Forestland Grant Program for 2025–2027 funds projects that reduce wildfire risk on small forestland-owner properties. Eligible owners are defined there as an individual, group, or federally recognized Indian tribe in Oregon who owns up to 160 acres west of the Cascade crest or up to 640 acres east of it. Project submissions, as described on that page, must request more than $10,000 and up to $300,000, with at least 75 percent of costs going to fuel-reduction treatment, and a 25 percent leverage strongly suggested. This is a project-scale grant, typically organized by a sponsor for multiple owners, not a simple household rebate for raking the first five feet. Read ODF’s current page if you have forestland that might fit, or ask a local forestry organization whether a sponsored project is forming in your area.

A statewide retrofit grant that is in statute, but not confirmed as open

In 2025 the legislature created a Wildfire Prepared Structure Program (ORS 477.855). The statute directs OSFM, in collaboration with the Department of Consumer and Business Services, to implement a grant program for retrofitting dwellings that existed on September 26, 2025, and dwellings built after wildfire damage, using retrofits and materials aligned with Oregon Residential Specialty Code section R327 or other relevant best practices. It says applications for existing dwellings are to be accepted at least once per year, on dates OSFM sets, and as needed for post-fire construction, with preference criteria that include wildland-urban interface residents, people who implement defensible-space requirements, socially vulnerable and low-income applicants, and homes damaged by a wildfire under the Emergency Conflagration Act.

As of November 2026, we found the statute but did not find a public application window or a current OSFM application page for this program. We are not listing it as open. If you think you might qualify, ask OSFM whether applications are being accepted.

Oregon Living with Fire’s funding hub is a public starting point for community-level funding leads. Treat it as a directory to check, not as a guarantee that a given grant is open.

Washington

DNR financial assistance for wildfire resilience and forest health

The Washington Department of Natural Resources runs a financial-assistance program, formerly called the cost-share program, described on its page Financial Assistance for Wildfire Resilience and Forest Health. As reviewed in November 2026, that page states:

• The program offers technical and financial assistance for forest-health or wildfire-mitigation treatments, or for help writing a forest management plan.
• It is available in both Eastern and Western Washington.
• Non-federal owners of forestland who own less than 5,000 forested acres in Washington may be eligible.
• A local DNR forester provides a free consultation. DNR does not do the work itself. For qualified owners, it shares the cost up to a predetermined amount, which you are told if your application is approved.
• Owners who qualify may do the work themselves and get details on reimbursement, or hire it out.
• The page says application decisions typically take one to two weeks, and that inquiries are handled in the order received.

Use DNR’s “Find Your Forester” contacts on that page, which are listed by region. Eligibility, the share DNR will pay, and whether funds remain are questions only DNR can answer for your property.

Firewise USA® site micro-grants

On DNR’s Defensible Space — Prepare Your Home page, as reviewed in November 2026, DNR had posted a 2027 Firewise USA® Site Micro Grant application and a notice of funding opportunity. That offer is aimed at Firewise USA® sites, not at every individual homeowner. If your neighborhood is a recognized Firewise site, or you are forming one, read the current DNR announcement and contact firewise@dnr.wa.gov or the local DNR staff listed on that page. If you are not in a Firewise site, the forest-health financial-assistance program above, or a local fire-district program, is the more direct path to ask about.

How to look locally, and how hiring fits

Ask your fire district, county emergency-management office, conservation district, and (in forested areas) your state forester what is open this year. Local programs may cover only certain streets or hazard areas, may require three bids, and may require a licensed contractor — Josephine County’s 2026 rules are an example. They may also refuse to pay for work started before approval.

If you will hire a company, use our contractor-vetting guide, confirm the license on Oregon CCB or Washington L&I yourself, and browse verified listings in this directory. If a program pays the contractor directly, your bid still needs a clear scope, including how slash will be handled. For the underlying work those programs fund, see the home-hardening checklist and the Oregon and Washington requirement guides.

Sources

• Oregon State Fire Marshal, Defensible Space and Investments for Oregon, reviewed November 2026.
• Josephine County Emergency Management, Defensible Space Project, reviewed November 12, 2026.
• Oregon Department of Forestry, Small Forestland Grant Program, 2025–2027 project description.
• Oregon Revised Statutes, ORS 477.855 (Wildfire Prepared Structure Program), 2025.
• Oregon Living with Fire, funding hub.
• Washington Department of Natural Resources, Financial Assistance for Wildfire Resilience and Forest Health, reviewed November 2026.
• Washington Department of Natural Resources, Defensible Space — Prepare Your Home (2027 Firewise USA® Site Micro Grant posting), reviewed November 2026.