The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has developed this series of mitigation planning "how-to" guides to assist states, communities, and tribes in enhancing their hazard mitigation planning capabilities. These guides are designed to provide the type of information state and local governments need to initiate and maintain a planning process that will result in safer communities. These guides are applicable to states and communities of various sizes and varying ranges of financial and technical resources. This how-to series is not intended to be the last word on any of the subject matter covered; rather, it is meant to provide easy to understand guidance for the field practitioner. In practice, these guides may be supplemented with more extensive technical data and the use of experts when necessary. The how-to guides cover the following topics: Getting started with the mitigation planning process, including important considerations for how you can organize your efforts to develop an effective mitigation plan (FEMA 386-1); Identifying hazards and assessing losses to your community or state (FEMA 386-2); Setting mitigation priorities and goals for your community or state and writing the plan (FEMA 386-3); Implementing the mitigation plan, including project funding and maintaining a dynamic plan that changes to meet new developments (FEMA 386-4); Evaluating potential mitigation measures through the use of benefit-cost analysis and other techniques (FEMA 386-5); Incorporating special considerations into hazard mitigation planning for historic structures and cultural resources (FEMA 386-6); Incorporating considerations for human-caused hazards into hazard mitigation planning (FEMA 386-7); Using multi-jurisdictional approaches to mitigation planning (FEMA 386-8); and Finding and securing technical and financial resources for mitigation planning (FEMA 386-9). This first guide in the State and Local Mitigation Planning How-to series discusses the activities and issues involved in initiating a hazard mitigation planning process. The topics covered here are presented within the context of the beginning phase of the mitigation planning process, although many of these activities will continue more or less behind the scenes throughout the process. Therefore, the efforts you put into identifying and organizing your resources early on will pay dividends later as you progress through some of the more challenging tasks of mitigation planning. This how-to guide thus covers not only this first phase of the planning process, but also provides snapshots of later phases. You will then be able to begin the planning process knowing ahead of time what types of resources you may need to call upon in the future. Lastly, but perhaps most importantly, elected officials, community staff, citizens, and businesses will benefit from the knowledge, organization, positive attitude, and energy that you and your team demonstrate.