The Ember Alliance (TEA) is excited to announce the completion of the updated Asotin County Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) prepared for the Asotin County Conservation District. This CWPP will help Asotin County, Washington to prepare for wildfire by providing specific information and recommendations for their local area. CWPP’s help communities, like Asotin County, to assess local hazards, help communities to prepare for wildfire, and identify strategic investments to mitigate wildfire risk. Over fifteen years have passed since Asotin’s last Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was developed. The Ember Alliance’s 2025 Asotin CWPP modernizes the 2008 plan by taking advantage of recent advances in fire science and addressing changes to fire risk, home construction, and other characteristics of the community. This document is a tool for Asotin County residents, communities, land managers, business owners, agency personnel, and hazard mitigation managers to prioritize projects that will build a safer and more resilient community in a wildfire-prone ecosystem.
This opportunity was particularly exciting for TEA in two key ways: first, it allowed us to expand our expertise into the Pacific Northwest region, and second, it enabled us to enhance our capabilities in grassland wildfire modeling. This project marked TEA’s first experience working extensively with grasslands and developing specialized modeling techniques to address their unique challenges. TEA has typically worked with dense forests found in Colorado, but the varied landscape of Eastern Washington— a mix of grasslands, shrublands, and forested areas—required us to adapt our assessment methods and refine our modeling approach. By gaining a deeper understanding of fire behavior in grassland ecosystems, TEA is now better equipped to provide comprehensive recommendations for Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) that address the specific needs of grassland environments.
TEA would like to extend a special thank you to partners and the core team who helped in developing content, providing data, feedback, and planning implementation projects for this CWPP. Thank you to Asotin County, Asotin County Conservation District, Washington Department of Natural Resources, Blue Mountain Fire District, Asotin County Fire District, Washington Resource Conservation and Development Council, and the U.S. Forest Service.
TEA is excited to continue to offer services in the Pacific Northwest Region for communities who are interested in preparing for wildfire. If your county, municipality, or otherwise are interested in a CWPP, contact: mary.macdonald@emberalliance.org to learn more.
