PINEDALE – Snow already covers thousands

of acres scarred by flames from the

Roosevelt Fire, the most destructive in Wyoming’s

history. The fire destroyed 55 homes

and devastated the community of Hoback

Ranches.

When the snow melts this spring, erosion

and runoff from fire-damaged hillsides will

pose a significant risk to roads and infrastructure

in vulnerable communities like Hoback

Ranches.

Volunteers from the American Red Cross,

Pinedale Lions Club and the wider community

have worked with Hoback Ranches residents

to build rock dams in ditches along roads and

install straw wattle barriers on exposed hillsides

to offset some of the damage. The Roosevelt

Fire Disaster Recovery Fund, sponsored

by the Lions Club and Bondurant Community

Club, has raised more than $300,000 for relief

efforts.

But the full extent and cost to repair infrastructure

damaged by the fire in Hoback

Ranches and other affected communities is

still daunting.

The good news is that federal and state

funding is out there. But the process to acquire

funding will take a lot of effort and collaboration.

Melinda Gibson, state hazard mitigation

officer for the Wyoming Office of Homeland

Security, outlined the post-fire hazard mitigation

grant program at a meeting on Tuesday,

Nov. 13. Residents from Hoback Ranches

attended the meeting along with local emergency

management officials and members of

local government.

On Sept. 18, as flames roared up mountain

slopes south and west of U.S. Highway 191,

the Federal Emergency Management Agency

made a fire management assistance declaration

for all areas affected by the Roosevelt

Fire. Once FEMA made this declaration, devastated

communities within the fire perimeter

became eligible for funding under the new

federal post-fire hazard mitigation grant program,

Gibson said.

“This is an exciting and innovative program,”

Gibson said. “We’re thrilled that it is

available to our state.”

Communities are eligible for $425,008

to fund post-fire mitigation projects, Gibson

stated. Funding is intended for long-term, permanent

mitigation projects, she added.

Gibson defined hazard mitigation as “any

action taken to permanently reduce or eliminate

the long-term risk to human life and

property from hazards.” The broad umbrella

includes mitigation efforts like stabilizing soil,

clearing wildland fire fuels, creating defensive

space around buildings or rebuilding with fire

resistant materials. Mitigation efforts are crucial

to diminish property damage and the loss

of lives in a disaster, and are an “investment”

in a community’s future, Gibson added.

The challenge for Hoback Ranches is that

the money under this program is not intended

for immediate emergency relief. To receive

funding, community leaders have to go

through a lengthy application process that can

take from six months to a year, Gibson said.

Hoback Ranches Service Improvement

District Treasurer Dave Nemetz raised the

concern at a County Commissioners meeting

on Nov. 9 that the “window of opportunity” to

be proactive with mitigation projects is closing

fast as winter approaches.

“The process does not move fast,” Gibson

said. “The application involves a lot of work

and takes a lot of effort. It is not without some

bureaucracy.”

Eligible applicants first have to submit a

“notice of interest” to the State Homeland Security

Office. The state office will review the

notice of interest to ensure that the project is

logistically and financially sound. When the

notice of intent receives a green light, applicants

then start the long process of filling out

the 30-plus page grant application.

The completed application is submitted to

the state for review. Once the state accepts the

application, it is submitted to FEMA. FEMA

officials in Washington, D.C., review the application

and make the final decision to approve

or deny the project and funding.

All applicants have to come up with a

25-percent match to the federal dollars offered.

This can be in the form of cash or

“in-kind” funding involving volunteer hours,

services provided or material. Volunteer work

carried out before a project is approved is not

eligible to count toward the 25-percent match,

Gibson said.

Residents in Hoback Ranches face another

obstacle because their service improvement

district has not signed the local multi-hazard

mitigation plan covering Sublette and Fremont

counties that was approved by FEMA in

April 2018. As a result, Hoback Ranches is not

eligible to apply as an entity for the post-fire

hazard mitigation grant. The community will

have to form a partnership with an entity like

the Sublette County Board of Commissioners

to apply for the funding on their behalf.

The application process involves a high

level of collaboration between residents in affected

areas and local, state and federal government

agencies, Gibson said.

“The hazard mitigation grant program is

not a program that can survive without dedicated

people at the local, state and federal government

levels,” she said. “I’m your champion

at the state level, but you need to find a champion

at the local level.”

Gibson also outlined other available

sources of funding. The same application for

the post-fire hazard mitigation grant can be

used to access millions of federal dollars in the

pre-disaster mitigation grant program and the

flood mitigation assistance program.

Gibson also encouraged residents in areas

affected by the fire to purchase flood insurance.

Flood insurance is separate from regular

homeowner’s insurance policies, she said.

Since neighborhoods within the fire perimeter

are not in a traditional flood plain, premiums

will be “more affordable,” she added.

Gibson stressed the need to purchase insurance

before spring runoff begins. People with

questions or concerns about insurance can

contact Kim Johnson, national flood insurance

program coordinator at the Wyoming Homeland

Security Office.

A notice of intent for the post-fire hazard

mitigation grant is already being drafted and

will be presented at the next Sublette County

Commissioners’ meeting for review and a

vote, County Clerk Mary Lankford confirmed.

Commissioners will also discuss securing

funds from the Wyoming Office of Homeland

Security to hire a grant writer to ease the workload

on the application, Lankford said.

Commissioners will meet at the Big Piney

Town Hall on Tuesday, Nov. 20, starting at 9

a.m.