 key stakeholders gathered today to help plan for potential wildfires. Josh Peterson was there and shares with us how the Community Planning Assistance for Wildfires program is being implemented in the area. Last fall Bemidji was selected through a competitive process to be part of the CPOP program. CPOP, which stands for Community Planning Assistance for Wildfires, is a program that offers technical planning assistance to communities facing a growing wildfire risk. We're really providing our CPOP technical team some information to start developing some recommendations on how we can take wildfire prevention in the Bemidji area to the next level. The two day meeting brought many community entities together and in the end recommendations will focus on strengthening connections between key planning, development and fire codes, and improving risk reduction strategies through policies and ordinances. Our first site visit is really about who do we need to talk to, what do we need to learn, what are the essential things we need to know about the community in order to start thinking about how we can better serve and help the community. One of the keys emphasized during the session was the importance of planning, especially when it concerns a growing and sprawling population. It worked out ideal for us that we're just so happy to be in this process and we're excited that like I said that they're providing us input and comments throughout the company's plan process. Besides planning, another area of opportunity is communication and finding effective ways to communicate when there is a possible danger or when there is an actual emergency. Reducing our vulnerability to fire comes down to our community and whether that be making green space, making your home more fire resilience, but the bottom line is people impact fires. Key partnerships formed are a direct result of the CPaw program and the teamwork will help in the implementation of its findings. We're kind of being are gonna partner with them on this project to hopefully help implement some of the the outcomes that come through this planning process. This is not the only time the CPaw team will make a visit to the Bemidji area. Three more visits are planned later this year. In Bemidji, Josh Peterson, Lakeland News and to see the area's wildfire conditions. The CPaw team will be back this spring and then again during the summer and fall. If you've enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax deductible contribution to Lakeland Public Television.