Wildfire Mitigation Defensible Space

Protect Your Home, Create Defensible Space

The Town of Mountain Village and Telluride Mountain Village Owners Association want to help you create defensible space on your property in order to lower your property’s wildfire risk.

Home Site Visit

Throughout the summer, the Town of Mountain Village’s staff forester will conduct home site visits in order to provide you with a Defensible Space Scope of Work Report. For general information, please contact our Planning Department by or (970) 369-8603. Due to snow accumulation, site visits are generally scheduled between April 1 and October 31.

What Is Defensible Space?

Defensible space, in simple terms and according to the Colorado State Forest Service, is the natural and landscaped area around a home or other structure that has been modified to reduce fire hazard. Defensible space gives your home a fighting chance against an approaching wildfire. We have also dedicated a section of our Community Development Code to fire mitigation and have adopted the Mountain Village Forest Management Plan. You may also review the 2017 report on the health of Colorado’s forests by the Colorado State Forest Service.

Our Community Assessment:

In 2014, the West Region Wildfire Council and the Telluride Fire Protection District conducted a big-picture analysis – a Rapid Wildfire Risk Assessment – of every wildland urban Interface home within the fire district’s boundaries. Over 1,900 homes and properties were assessed for wildfire risk using an 11-element assessment system. In addition, the West Region Wildfire Council conducted a residential wildfire survey designed to collect a variety of social information. A report of the survey results, specific to upper and lower Mountain Village (two areas identified in the 2009 San Miguel Community Wildfire Protection Plan) was produced and is available for download.

Incentive Program Steps

1. Schedule a home site visit with the Town Forester to discuss eligibility and program fit.

To schedule your site visit, please fill out the below form.

2. Pay defensive space assessment deposit and make arrangements with the Town Forester to have a defensive space/home hardening assessment performed.

During the site visit, the Town of Mountain Village’s forester will tour your property and provide specific recommendations for how you can reduce your risk, including ways to create defensible space. Moreover, staff will mark trees, develop a map with treatment acreage and prepare a Defensible Space Scope of Work Report. It’s important to note that you must have a home site visit if want to participate in this incentive program.

3. Once the forester's report has been received, hire a contractor who will create your defensible space.

Once the forester's written report has been received, the property owner/manager hires a contractor to complete the defensible space work according to the forester's scope of work prescription.

We recommend that you view the list of contractors and receive at least three bids. The contractor must use the scope of work prepared by our town forester as their guide to developing a bid.

4. Contractor finalizes the work in the Scope of Work prescription from the wildfire mitigation’/home hardening assessment report.

Contractor finalizes the work in the Scope of Work prescription from the wildfire mitigation’/home hardening assessment report. Then property owner/manager pays the contractor when the job is satisfactorily finished and gets an itemized receipt or itemized zeroed invoice.

5. Property owner or manager completes and signs the rebate application form.

Please fill out the Defensible Space Incentive Program Application for Rebate Form and provide form and proof of payment for the contractor's services to .

When providing proof of payment please also provide an itemized receipt or itemized zeroed invoice for proper proof of payment.

6. Get reimbursed!

Once work is complete and you have received a final bill for your work, fill out our rebate form. We will reimburse you 50 percent of the total defensible space project cost up to $10,000 per property.

Ready to schedule a site visit?

Please contact our Town Forester Rodney Walters to schedule a site visit through the form found in Step 1 above. You should receive a response within a few business days. If you have further questions, please email or call 970-369-8603. Please see detailed program policy and procedures for a comprehensive understanding of the program.

FAQS

1. Can anyone participate in this incentive program?

This incentive program is for Mountain Village residents and property owners only. If you live outside of Mountain Village, you may be eligible for mitigation cost-share programs through the West Region Wildfire Council.

2. Can I still participate in the program?

Yes! Just fill out the form on this page to initiate the process.

4. What is the fund total?

We and TMVOA have funded this program for a total of $140,000. When funds are exhausted, this program will end. In other words, first-come, first-served.

5. I created defensible space on my property a few years ago. Can I receive a rebate through this program?

Thank you for taking the initiative and creating a defensible space! Unfortunately, this program is not retroactive. With that being said, please so we may better understand your request for reimbursement.

We do encourage homeowners to keep their defensible space maintained, and homeowners are eligible to apply for rebates once every five years.

6. Will my property look ugly if I create defensible space?

After implementing a defensible space plan, your property may look different, but not ugly. Since sunshine will reach the forest floor as a result of tree thinning, fresh new plants will start to grow and the forest will become healthier.

7. I am building a new home in Mountain Village. Can I participate in this program?

This program is for existing Mountain Village homes only, not new construction.