Washington’s Community Wildfire Ambassador (CWA) approach began as a collaboration between the Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council (WRCD) and the Washington Department of Natural Resources (DNR) to engage residents in locally-led wildfire mitigation and risk reduction practices.

The Community Wildfire Ambassador approach aims to build community and empower neighborhood volunteers to strengthen wildfire resilience in their place by providing them with training, tools, and support. The CWA approach is a proven methodology that fosters local leadership, collaboration, and knowledge sharing to help communities become better prepared for future wildfire events.

CWA is designed to be utilized by local organizations to develop continued engagement between ambassadors and coordinators. While there is a statewide framework, place based organizations need to work with their ambassadors to determine what practices will work best for them in their communities. WRCD and DNR piloted the use of this approach with Fire Adapted Methow and hopes to expand its use in communities across Washington.