Events
Local Funding Opportunities Webinar Series
Creating and Leveraging Funding from the Local Level and Beyond is a four-part virtual Lunch & Learn webinar series hosted by the Wildfire and Watershed Initiative for Resilient Colorado (WWIRC). Designed for private and public sector partners including local government, special districts, and forest health collaboratives, the series provides practical, non-partisan education on local and regional public funding strategies that support wildfire mitigation, forest restoration, and watershed resilience.
Through real-world examples from Colorado and beyond, the webinars explore local taxing mechanisms, regional funding models, conservation finance tools, and the enabling conditions needed to move projects from planning to implementation. The series is intended to support peer learning, highlight lessons learned, and help communities identify sustainable funding opportunities that align with local priorities and capacity.
Session 1: Overview of Local Funding Opportunities and insights from jurisdictions with local funding measures.
March 10, 2026 12-1pm MT.
This session provides an overview of local taxing authorities, mechanisms, and other funding opportunities that communities can use to fund wildfire mitigation, forest restoration, and watershed resilience by exploring examples and lessons from communities using established funding tools.
Speakers:
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Jason Swann, Conservation Finance Program Director, Trust for Public Land
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Chief Brad White, Grand Fire Protection District No. 1
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Allegra Waterman-Snow, Eagle County Conservation District
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Jay Sage and/or Dan Dertz, Douglas County
Session 2: Exploring Regional Models for Local Funding
March 31, 2026 12-1pm MT.
This session will explore regional and place-based funding models, such as watershed funds, forest improvement districts, and multi-jurisdictional collaborations, that can support sustained investment in wildfire mitigation and watershed resilience.
Speakers:
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Esther Duke, Chief Operations Officer Coalitions & Collaboratives (COCO)
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Jackie Brown, Yampa River Fund Board Chair
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Julie Dubin, Peaks to People Water Fund
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Amy Moyer, Colorado River District
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Kevin Whelan, Colorado Fire Commission, Chairman of Forest Improvement District Subcommittee
Session 3: Leveraging Conservation Finance Tools at the Local Level
May 12, 2026 12-1pm MT.
This session will examine how local governments, utilities, corporates, and partners can use conservation finance tools to stretch public dollars, aggregated contributions, reduce risk, and advance the pace, scale, and impact of forest restoration and watershed projects.
Session 4: Enabling Factors and Opportunities for Building Local Funding at Scale
June 9, 2026 12-1pm MT.
This session will discuss the strategies and opportunities local governments and partners have to successfully fund and implement wildfire mitigation and forest restoration projects at scale.
Forest Restoration Economy Summit
The Forest Restoration Economy Summit is an in-person convening hosted by WWIRC in Spring 2026, bringing together decision-makers, practitioners, industry leaders, and investors to advance the pace and scale of forest restoration across the state by advancing Colorado's Forest Restoration Economy.
Designed as a structured, solutions-oriented forum, the summit will examine forest restoration as both an ecological imperative and an economic opportunity—one that supports wildfire risk reduction, watershed resilience, jobs, and rural economies. Through facilitated dialogue and cross-sector collaboration, participants will explore markets, workforce, infrastructure, policy, finance, technology, and metrics that shape the Forest Restoration Economy.
The summit aims to surface actionable strategies, identify investment and policy opportunities, and build alignment across sectors to support sustained restoration at scale, while generating insights that inform WWIRC’s ongoing strategy and future engagement.
Join WWIRC's email list (below) for updates.