The National Association of State Foresters announced that the nomination period for the 2026 Wildfire Mitigation Awards has opened.

The award program, established in 2014, recognizes outstanding mitigation projects and their significant impact on community wildfire preparedness, the association said on its website.

Wildfire Today reached out to the International Association of Fire Chiefs for confirmation on whether the awards accept nominations from programs outside of the United States. We will update this article when we get a response, but until then, it may be safe to assume it is US only.

The program includes the National Wildfire Mitigation Award, the National Mitigation Hero Awards, and the Wildfire Mitigation Legacy Award. The winners will be honored at a ceremony during the 2026 Wildland-Urban Interface Conference in Reno, Nevada, in March.

Award winners from the 2025 ceremony included Wildfire Mitigation Specialist Aaron Johnson from Ridgway, Colorado, the Hawai’i Wildfire Management Organization, Fire Hazard Mitigation Program Manager Tyre Holfeltz in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, Wildfire Mitigation Specialist Aleese Maples in Southport, Florida, and North Florissant, Colorado Fire Mitigation Posse founder Don Moore.

The awards are sponsored by the Association along with the National Fire Protection Association, the International Association of Fire Chiefs, and the USDA Forest Service. The sponsors will cover a portion of the travel and hotel costs, along with the full registration costs for the awardees.

“Effective community fire adaptation efforts can take many shapes,” according to the National Fire Protection Association’s website. “Creating a local mitigation coalition, implementing community wildfire protection plans, conducting community-wide assessments, promoting defensible space and home hardening, treating for hazardous fuels, and engaging fire departments and building code officials to reduce wildfire risk are all great examples of wildfire mitigation work.”

Nomination guidelines and selection criteria at the National Association of State Foresters’ website. All nominations must be submitted by January 7, 2026.