This project is key to reducing wildfire risk for Lahaina in the future. The grasslands around Lahaina pose a fire risk to the town, and a multiagency approach is needed to establish a green break and/or fire break at the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) around the town. While holistic reforestation, agroforestry and ungulate grazing plans on private lands can reduce fire risk for the town, those efforts take time, and an immediate need is to protect the town. Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) outline specific actions to take to protect a community from future wildfires and are a prerequisite for some federal funding opportunities for wildfire protection projects. The current West Maui CWPP, Upcountry CWPP and South Maui CWPP identify and prioritize key place-based actions in need of funding and implementation. CWPPs are typically updated every 10 years, and the West Maui CWPP, Upcountry CWPP and
South Maui CWPP are all due for an update.

This project includes several multidisciplinary actions to reduce and mitigate wildfire risk for the town and increase community resilience and preparedness for future fires, as mentioned in the County’s Hazard Mitigation Plan:

• Work across County, State, federal, community, and private groups to establish a green break and/or fire break at the WUI around Lahaina
• Update and implement actions in the current West Maui CWPP, Upcounty Maui CWPP and South Maui CWPP

• Meetings among County, State, federal, community, and private landowner groups to develop an approach for implementing a WUI green break/fire break
• Develop a conceptual plan for implementation of a WUI green break/fire break around Lahaina and implement it
• Fund and implement key actions described in the current Upcountry Maui CWPP, West Maui CWPP, and South Maui CWPP
• Updates by Hawaiʻi Wildfire Management
• Organization (HWMO) to the Upcountry Maui CWPP, with funding through U.S. Forest Service Community Wildfire Defense Grant Program
• Identify funding for the update of the West Maui CWPP and update of South Maui CWPP
• Continued work across County agencies to propose new policies to reduce wildfire risk
• Continued work across County agencies and nonprofit partners for community wildfire education