Fires in Moab’s creek corridors have wreaked havoc in recent years. Blazes like the 2018 Cinema Court fire and the 2022 Murphy Lane fire, both of which started along Pack Creek, have consumed homes and changed lives. Swaths of the creek corridors still choked with overgrown fire fuels — especially those in high-density neighborhoods or near critical infrastructure — threaten another and perhaps more devastating fire.
Over the last 20 years, Moab’s dedicated residents and agencies have pulled together to greatly reduce these fire fuels, but often without the true resources to do so. The Community Wildfire Defense Grant awarded to Moab in 2024 through Rim to Rim Restoration enables these agencies to expand that work and fully engage the community in coordinated hazardous fuels mitigation efforts, ensuring that wildfire defense will extend well into the future.
Community Wildfire Defense Grant reimbursements in Utah were, however, paused as of Feb. 25, per a letter from the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands. Grant funds support a coalition of local partners including the Moab Valley Fire Department, the City of Moab and the Grand County Weed Department. Seasonal and permanent jobs in the community are tied to this funding.
Funding for the project first paused in late January following the Jan. 27 federal funding freeze, but within a day Rim to Rim was again cleared to receive grant reimbursements. The Feb. 25 funding pause now jeopardizes important work protecting Moab residents and their property from wildfire. If the pause is not resolved and reimbursements resumed, it will spell a loss for the entire community.
Moab’s Community Wildfire Defense Grant funds — which total $5.2 million over five years — are awarded by the U.S. Forest Service through the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire and State Lands, which administers the funding as a subaward to Rim to Rim Restoration and the Moab Valley Fire District.
Per the Feb. 25 letter, however, the state hasn’t been able to obtain federal reimbursements since before the initial funding freeze, indicating that the state has been funding the grant from its own coffers since late January.
“As you are likely aware, there is considerable uncertainty surrounding federal funding and the Division uses federal grants to support vital programs and projects,” reads the letter, addressed to Rim to Rim Restoration. “Since January 20, 2025, we have not been reimbursed for previous federal costs that have been incurred.”
We thank the state for funding this critical public safety work. Thanks to their decision to reimburse organizations for work done in January and most of February, local partners have been able to carry on fuels mitigation and community outreach.
We hope that as the new administration reviews these programs, they will see the value of this important, proactive work and the return on investment to American taxpayers.
Hopefully, the funding will soon be released.
Right now, Rim to Rim is taking stock of the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program and determining how best to proceed. Thanks to state funding from Utah’s Watershed Restoration Initiative and City of Moab funding to assist with flood management and outreach, work will not grind to a screeching halt, but it will slow for a time.
We firmly believe such disaster preparation to be a form of community care as well as an investment in local safety and resilience, and as such are resolved to accomplish as much of it as we can with the support of the community. The work to mitigate the next fire must continue.
Kara Dohrenwend, Sophia Fisher, Gavin Belfry, Bryce Rogers, Jeanine Saia, and Ray Williams
The Rim to Rim Restoration team
