The Chaffee County’s Common Ground program

Chaffee County Community Foundation is honored to partner with Chaffee County and the Chaffee County Citizens Advisory Committee to administer the Chaffee County Common Ground Program funds.

Visit www.chaffeecounty.org For more information on the Chaffee County Common Ground Program, Funding History and the Citizen Advisory Committee.

Program Goals:

  • Strengthening forest health and reducing wildfire danger 

  • Conserving and supporting agricultural lands and rural landscapes

  • Managing the impacts of growth 

Funding opportunities encompass projects and planning work. Questions about the application process? Contact CCCF at grants@chaffeecommunity.org or call 719-204-5071

2025 Competitive Grant Program Goals

  • Strengthen forest health to protect the community from a large wildfire, protect water quality, and enhance wildlife habitat through planning and execution of forest treatment activities.

  • Conserve and support working ranches, farms and rural landscapes through conservation easements and tools that enhance economic viability and longevity of working lands.

  • Protect landscapes and watershed health from negative impacts of outdoor recreation use through management, hardening, restoration, and education to disperse use and support conservation values.

  • Encourage action at scale across the landscape, to include landownership/management boundaries.

  • Encourage collaborative thought and action across funding categories.

  • Fund successful programs.

  • Maximize impact by working to leverage overall Chaffee Common Ground funds by at least 2-1 through cash and in-kind matches on all combined programs (exceptions are permitted for individual programs).

Winter/Spring 2025 SCHEDULE

  • Application Information Posted - Friday, April 4th

  • Informational Webinar for Applicants - Thursday April 17th, 9- 10 AM: Watch Recording Here.

  • Pre-Applications Open Friday, April 18th 8:00 AM

  • Pre-Application due date Friday May 16th, 11:59 PM

  • Full Application due date Friday June 6th, 11:59 PM

  • Grants Awarded August 2025

2025 Grants

Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Planning & Education Grants are for planning of treatment activities that enhance forest health and community wildfire resilience. Applicants must be a qualified organization; individual landowners are encouraged to work with the Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado FireCamp or a similar organization.

Forest Health and Fire Resilience Project Grants are for the execution of treatment activities that enhance forest health and community fire resilience. Treatments on private lands are only considered as part of a larger project that provides value to the community, such as a fuel break that crosses public and private lands in areas identified as high priority in the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. Treatment for fire resilience is completed only through qualified organizations such as Colorado State Forest Service, Colorado Firecamp, Natural Resource Conservation Services (NRCS) or similar. 

Agricultural Program Grants are to support planning and partnerships that provide services to enhance economic viability and longevity of working agricultural lands. Applicants must be a qualified organization.

Agricultural Enhancement Grants are for projects that support agricultural operations on qualified properties with conservation agreements in place or on public lands.

Sustainable Agriculture - Conservation Easement & Acquisition Grants are for conservation easements and land acquisition. Applicants must be a qualified organization, such as an accredited land trust or government agency.

Recreation Impacts Planning and Monitoring Grants are for planning and project development to protect landscape and watershed health from the impacts of outdoor recreation use.

Recreation Impacts Management Grants are for the execution of projects that protect landscape and watershed health from negative impacts resulting from outdoor recreation use. Applications must be from a qualified organization or private landowners with a nexus to public land access and in collaboration with a qualified land management agency, such as US Forest Service, Colorado Parks and Wildlife or Bureau of Land Management.

Mini Grants are for one- to two-year projects requesting $5,000 or less that advance the goals of Chaffee Common Ground through the grant programs outlined above. The intent is to support small projects and allow more participation through a simplified application process. 

REQUIREMENTS FOR ALL GRANTS

  • Permits and landowner permissions are in place and can be documented, with the exception of planning grants.

  • The proposal budget, plan and timeline is complete at an acceptable level of detail and quality.

  • The proposal demonstrates clear and measurable results.

  • For proposals of $50,000 or more, the applicant demonstrates a track record of success with a program of similar scope and scale.

  • Agreement that funded proposals can be promoted by Chaffee Common Ground, including public news stories and signage.

Additional Grant Guidelines:

Capital equipment should be limited to project supplies that are used in the project or program. Durable capital items with be considered if the applicant will retain, own and maintain the equipment.

Multi-year funding requests are considered for multi-year projects. All grants are subject to annual appropriations by the Chaffee Board of County Commissioners. Progress reports are required to access ongoing funding.

Site visits may be requested by the Chaffee Common Ground Citizens Advisory Committee for any project to assess need, progress or completion of work. These requests will focus on complex projects applying for or funded at $100,000 or more. 

Maps & Guides for applicant reference:

Staff Capacity support is considered to develop and implement specific projects and programs with time transparently tracked. New government positions must:

  • Be innovative, creative, and offer a new solution that supports community goals.

  • Be dedicated to accomplishing specific, measurable goals associated with a project or program.

  • Provide a clear, current data-supported need.

  • Provide a clear path to sustainable funding within 3 years that is not from Common Ground.

  • Provide a cash match of at least 50%.

  • Establish validity as part of a collaborative community planning process with broad stakeholder engagement and support.

grant attachment templates

Grant Payment Procedures:

  • Organizations are encouraged to enroll in automatic payments through a secure ACH process for timely receipt of grant funding. Please download the Blank ACH Form and return to CCCF along with a voided check to enroll.

  • For further information regarding CCCF grants, please contact us at admin@chaffeecommunity.org or 719-204-5071.