Resilient Lowman: Community-Led Wildfire Mitigation · Lowman, Idaho

Building neighbor-to-neighbor wildfire resilience in Lowman

Lowman is a mountain community set in a steep and breathtaking forested canyon, surrounded by the Boise National Forest and other public lands, and ranked nationally in the 95th percentile for wildfire risk. When fire moves in this canyon, evacuation options can be immediate and irreversible — and sometimes nonexistent. This program lays the foundation for the organized, lasting capacity the community needs to protect lives, reduce risk, and build long-term wildfire resilience.

"Building the neighbor-to-neighbor capacity that turns wildfire awareness into protected homes — one parcel at a time."
Get involvedRequest a Home Wildfire Risk Assessment
95th
Percentile US wildfire risk nationally
~300
Year-round residents
250+
Homes at elevated structure ignition risk
1
Road in. 1 road out ~20% of the year — some years, zero.*
*Approximate community estimate based on observed road closures over 10+ years including avalanche, fire, flood, mudslide, and severe weather events on Highway 21 and Banks-Lowman Road.
Our Vision

Lowman is a wildfire-resilient community where neighbors work side by side to reduce wildfire risk. Through trusted local leadership and shared learning, the community builds lasting capacity that grows over time — season after season — and becomes a model of resilience and learning for Boise County and other communities facing similar circumstances.

Prepared Neighbors Resilient Community Safer Homes
Wildfire Resilience Capacity

Wildfire Resilience Capacity

Lasting local capacity to reduce wildfire risk, year after year.

Wildfire Resilience Leadership

Wildfire Resilience Leadership

Trusted Neighborhood Ambassadors connecting neighbors across Lowman.

Home Wildfire Risk Assessments

Home Wildfire Risk Assessments

Homeowners equipped to reduce wildfire risk around their homes.

Community Risk Reduction

Community Risk Reduction

Reducing wildfire risk around homes and across Lowman.

Connecting Neighbors

Connecting Neighbors

Neighbor-to-neighbor support for reducing wildfire risk.

Wildfire Resilience Across Lowman

Wildfire Resilience Across Lowman

Neighborhood by neighborhood.

Neighbor by neighbor

What is Resilient Lowman?

Neighbors and friends of Lowman gathered with the chipper
Neighbors and friends of Lowman.

One of Lowman’s greatest strengths is its people — neighbors who show up for one another through fire seasons and hard winters.

As wildfire risk grows, Resilient Lowman is building on that strength, bringing neighbors together to reduce wildfire risk — household by household — and strengthen resilience across the community.

Lowman homeowners learn alongside trained volunteers to identify and reduce wildfire risk around their homes, then support neighbors who otherwise may struggle to undertake mitigation work on their own. This experience of mutual help carries across neighborhoods.

The result is safer homes and a community that is more connected and more capable — built on neighbors helping neighbors, supported by shared resources, trusted leadership, and the capacity that carries this work forward, year after year.

This vision is already taking shape across Lowman: a growing network of Neighborhood Ambassadors trained and active, with more neighbors stepping forward across Lowman; Home Wildfire Risk Assessments underway toward our goal of 60 homes; defensible-space work prioritized at the 30 highest-risk properties; community action days bringing neighbors together for larger projects; and shared equipment and local know-how being pooled and kept in Lowman for the long term. See live progress →

Our Promise — One Step at a Time, Together. Six commitments — Neighborhood Ambassadors, Home Wildfire Risk Assessments, Defensible Space, Neighborhood Action Days, Equipment Caches, and Lasting Local Capacity — building the foundation for lasting wildfire resilience in Lowman, Idaho.
Our Promise

One Step at a Time, Together.

We are building the foundation for systematic, neighbor-to-neighbor wildfire risk reduction — one parcel at a time.

  1. Neighborhood AmbassadorsTrusted local residents who share knowledge and support their neighbors.
  2. Home Wildfire Risk AssessmentsUnderstanding risk on each property and identifying the steps that reduce it.
  3. Defensible SpaceClearing and hardening around homes to reduce wildfire risk.
  4. Neighborhood Action DaysWorking side by side to tackle mitigation and build resilience across Lowman.
  5. Equipment CachesShared tools and equipment to support neighborhood mitigation activities.
  6. Lasting Local CapacityCoordination, tracking, and knowledge that carry this work forward, season after season.

Together we build resilience.

Follow each commitment’s live progress →

In the field · Chipper Days · June 5–6, 2026Neighbors and partners clearing and chipping woody fuels along the Highway 21 corridor.
Start at home

Start where you live

The most important wildfire work happens at your own home and on your own street. You don't have to wait for anyone — here is where to begin.

Harden your own home

Begin in the first five feet around the house and any nearby structures — where embers land and catch. Clear needles and leaves here and off the roof, move firewood and anything that burns away from walls and decks, trim branches off the roof, and screen vents with fine metal mesh (one-eighth inch).

Look down your road

Notice who's away part of the year, or facing a job bigger than one person can manage alone. A little help clearing or trimming brush goes a long way — and a road where neighbors look out for each other is a safer one.

Work together

Join a Chipper Day, organize a neighborhood work party at two or three homes, and take on the bigger jobs as a group. Neighbors working side by side get more done.

Harden your own home — six simple actions that stop embers and give your home a fighting chance
Get involved
A gift from your neighbors

Home Wildfire Risk Assessment

A trained, volunteer-led walk-through of your property, conducted with you present on a scheduled day. It takes about 60 minutes.

A trained Neighborhood Ambassador walks your home and grounds with you — from the front door to the forest — and scores the conditions that affect your home's wildfire risk. Lower scores indicate lower risk. You receive a completed, scored copy of the form with practical, prioritized suggestions.

  • What to expect — about 60 minutes, outside, with you present. No work is performed on your property during the visit.
  • What you receive — a scored copy of your assessment and a short list of the highest-priority steps for your home.
What happens next
  1. We review every request and will be in touch about next steps.
  2. A trained Neighborhood Ambassador walks your property with you — about 60 minutes, with you present.
  3. You receive a scored assessment and a short, prioritized list of next steps.

This assessment is provided at no cost to you — made possible by generous donors and delivered by trained neighbors who give their time. It is informational only — it is not an insurance inspection, is not connected to any insurance company, and is not a guarantee against wildfire damage.

Request a Home Wildfire Risk Assessment

Community-funded — no cost to you

We complete a limited number of assessments each season and prioritize the households at highest risk and those least able to do this work alone. Requesting one is your first step — we'll follow up about availability.

Thank you for your interest in a Home Wildfire Risk Assessment — and for taking this step for your home and our community. We review every request, and we'll be in touch.

Your information is kept confidential and used only for wildfire-safety and program purposes. It is not shared with insurers or posted publicly.

Program deliverables

Watch us build Resilient Lowman — live progress

These goals reflect formal commitments to our community partners, and the numbers are updated as the work happens. Each metric reflects the coordinated work of neighbors who have devoted their time, talent, and resources — volunteering regularly to reduce wildfire risk across the Lowman community. Several counts begin at zero and climb as this season’s work gets underway.

00%
Neighborhood Ambassadors
10 trained & active
Trusted local residents embedded across every corner of Lowman — cabin clusters, subdivisions, absentee landowners — reaching households that can't act alone.
00%
Ignition Risk Assessments
60 properties assessed
Each assessment gives a homeowner a clear, prioritized picture of their property's wildfire risk and the specific steps that matter most.
00%
Defensible Space Completed
30 high-risk households
The 30 households facing the highest risk and the greatest barriers to acting independently — elderly, fixed-income, seasonal residents.
00%
Community Tool Caches
2 caches at LVFD
Shared fuels and structure-hardening equipment at Station 80 — so every volunteer arrives equipped and ready, every time.
00%
Mitigation Events
4 community events
Chipper Days, work parties, and community training events bringing neighbors together to reduce risk across the canyon.
00%
Volunteer Hours Logged
1,200 hrs goal
Community volunteer time contributed as program match — proof that Lowman shows up for this work.
Community match — built by neighbors and partners
Resilient Lowman's match is almost entirely community in-kind — volunteer labor, donated goods and supplies, and donated professional services — delivered alongside partners including the Lowman Volunteer Fire Department, the U.S. Forest Service, and the Idaho Department of Lands, with support from local businesses and corporate donors. Together, they reflect the depth of commitment behind this work.
0 of 1,200 volunteer match hours contributed
0%
match hours complete
Why Lowman

What makes Lowman different

Lowman residents know the risk intimately. The 2024 fire season brought two simultaneous large fires pressing in from both directions: the Wapiti Fire (129,000 acres, northeast) and the Middle Fork Complex — Bulldog and Nellie fires — (61,000 acres, to the west). Highway 21 was closed for months. Over 2,100 firefighting personnel deployed.

The Lowman Volunteer Fire Department and local volunteers have served the canyon for years. Resilient Lowman is led by local residents alongside LVFD, with Boise County as fiscal sponsor.

  • Structure ignitability — in a wildfire, homes are most often ignited by windblown embers, which land on the roof, lodge in gutters, or catch what sits against the walls, rather than by the flame front itself. NIST and IBHS research bears this out: a home’s own condition does much to determine whether it survives.
  • Work already under way — a national Community Mitigation Assistance Team (CMAT) has assessed the area, a Lowman wildfire mitigation plan is in place, and neighbors have organized chipper days. Resilient Lowman extends that work.
  • Private land within public forest — private parcels sit interlaced with the Boise National Forest and other public lands. Defensible-space work on home parcels connects directly to fuels treatment on the surrounding lands, each reinforcing the other.
  • Exposure and vulnerability — close to half of Lowman’s households (40 to 55%) face real barriers to doing this work alone: age, mobility, income, or months away from the canyon.
For homeowners

Wildfire resilience resources

Practical guides for reducing wildfire risk around your home. View, download, or ask any Neighborhood Ambassador for a printed copy.

Neighbors and an assessor working through a Home Wildfire Risk Assessment on a Lowman property
A Home Wildfire Risk Assessment in progress.

Reducing Wildfire Risks in the Home Ignition Zone

A room-by-room and yard-by-yard checklist for hardening your home, starting in the first five feet.

Download PDF

How to Prepare Your Home for Wildfires

Firewise USA guidance on the steps that most reduce a home's chance of ignition.

Open guide

My Personal Wildland Fire Action Guide

Ready, Set, Go! — building your family's evacuation and readiness plan for Highway 21.

Download PDF

Wildfire Home Ignition Zone Checklist

A quick self-assessment you can walk through before your scheduled visit.

Download PDF

These guides open on the publishers' websites (NFPA and Ready, Set, Go!). Ask any Neighborhood Ambassador for a printed copy.

FAQ

Common questions

About Resilient Lowman

What area does Resilient Lowman serve?

Lowman and the surrounding Highway 21 corridor in Boise County. Over time, the aim is a neighbor-led model that other communities can build on.

Who runs it?

Local residents lead the program, in coordination with the Lowman Volunteer Fire Department and other partners, with Boise County as fiscal sponsor.

How is it funded?

Through a subaward from Coalitions & Collaboratives (COCO), with Boise County as fiscal sponsor. Much of the work is contributed in kind — the time, skills, and equipment of neighbors and local partners.

How can I help?

Volunteer your time and skills, serve your corner of Lowman as a Neighborhood Ambassador, or support the work however you can. Start at Get involved.

Will it continue after the funded year?

The current grant funds one year of work. What it builds — trained Neighborhood Ambassadors, shared equipment, and local know-how — is meant to stay in Lowman and carry on, season after season.

About the Home Wildfire Risk Assessment

Is there really no cost?

Yes. The assessment is community-funded — delivered by trained neighbors and supported by donors and grant funding — so there is no charge to you.

Do I have to do the work myself?

No work is done during the visit; it is a walk-through with you present. You decide what to take on afterward, and the program can point you to community resources like Chipper Days and defensible-space help.

How long does it take?

About 60 minutes, outside, with you present. You receive a scored copy of your assessment with prioritized next steps.

What if I rent?

You will need the property owner’s authorization. With their okay, renters are welcome to request an assessment.

When will you conduct my assessment?

Resilient Lowman is run by neighbors volunteering their time, and a limited number of assessments are completed each season. We endeavor to reach every request as resources and time allow, weighing wildfire risk and where help is needed most. Requests selected for scheduling are contacted directly to arrange a visit.

Why should I do this?

Resilient Lowman is built on a simple idea — neighbors helping neighbors reduce wildfire risk, one home and one street at a time. Preparing your home and your property is the single most effective thing you can do to improve its odds in a wildfire, and doing it alongside your neighbors makes the whole canyon more resilient. This work cannot guarantee that any home will survive a wildfire, but it can meaningfully reduce risk, and it is work worth doing together.

Neighbor to neighbor

Become a Neighborhood Ambassador

A Neighborhood Ambassador is a trusted Lowman resident — the human connection between Resilient Lowman and the neighbors who need it most. You know your area, the people there know you, and you are willing to show up when it matters. Lowman's greatest strength has always been its neighbors, and Ambassadors are how that strength becomes action for every household.

Neighbors, friends, and partners gathered in Hanging Valley
Neighbors, friends, and partners in Hanging Valley.
The spirit of the role

A good neighbor

Reach out to neighbors across your area, helping them connect with the program and keeping an eye out for anyone who could use extra support. Connect, support, and encourage — participation is always voluntary.

A community connector

Link neighbors to the resources available, help schedule and coordinate, and help organize mitigation work in your neighborhood — volunteer workdays, brush prep, and Chipper Days.

A trusted voice

Speak from your own experience and best practice on wildfire risk reduction — raising awareness and sharing practical strategies to reduce wildfire risk to homes and build resilience in your neighborhood.

A volunteer with backup

You are never working alone or expected to handle unsafe situations. You join a strong, supportive team — fellow Ambassadors and others whose experience and backing you can draw on whenever you need it.

Knowing your corner of Lowman is the main qualification. It is a volunteer role — flexible and built around what works for you, about four to eight hours a month. Full-time, part-time, and seasonal residents are all welcome, with full training, a resource packet, and the support of the whole team provided.

Express interest  →
Join the effort

Get involved

Lowman's greatest strength is its neighbors. There are two ways to step in — volunteer your time and skills, or serve your area as a Neighborhood Ambassador.

Neighbors of Lowman, ready to lend a hand
A Neighborhood Ambassador learning the Home Wildfire Risk Assessment from a mentor

Volunteer with the program

For anyone in Lowman ready to lend a hand

Thank you — your interest is in. Someone from the team will reach out about how and where you'd like to help.

Become a Neighborhood Ambassador

Serve your corner of the canyon

Thank you for your interest in serving as a Neighborhood Ambassador. The team will follow up for a brief conversation and match you to your area.
Support the work. Gifts of funds, materials, or equipment help us reach more neighbors. Want to give? Get in touch at resilientlowman@gmail.com.
Volunteer & team portal

Log your time, mileage & donations

Neighborhood Ambassadors and team members — sign in to record your monthly hours and mileage, note any donations, and run the Home Wildfire Risk Assessment workflow.

Resilient Lowman Portal

Lowman, Idaho · Monthly reporting due the 1st

First time signing in? Ask your Program Lead for your access PIN.
The people of LowmanNeighbors and partners, side by side — this is Resilient Lowman.