Risk Reduction works to reduce risk to life and property through land use planning, floodplain management, the adoption of sound building practices, and a variety of grant programs that support these activities. Mitigation projects that reduce risk include elevating, relocating, or acquiring properties located in floodplains and returning them to open space, and the reinforcing of buildings in earthquake-prone areas. (FEMA, Fact Sheet - FEMA's Mitigation Directorate, August 2007, p. 1)