Project Summary Form
Id Number 2006-215
NATIONAL FIRE PLAN COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE AND WILDLAND URBAN-INTERFACE PROJECTS
Application for Fuels Treatment Projects
Applicant
Applicant/Organization:
Institute for Washington's Future
Phone: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
Type of Applicant: (enter appropriate letter in box)
L
206-204-0404
FAX: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
A. State
B. County
C. Municipal
D. Township
E. Interstate
Please Call Ahead For FAX
H. Independent School District
I. State-Controlled Institution of Higher Learning
J. Private University
K. Indian Tribe
L. Nonprofit Organization
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
419 Occidental, Ste 206 Seattle, WA 98104
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Mr. Don Hopps Director
Organization/Jurisdiction:
Institute for Washington's Future
Phone: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
206-204-0404
FAX: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
Call Ahead For FAX
Email:
don@forwashington.org
Project Information
Project Title:
Upper Rendezvous Project
Proposed Project Start Date:
04/01/2006
Federal Funding Request:
$ 245,318
Proposed Project End Date:
12/31/2006
Total Project Funding:
$
353,844
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:
No
Brief Project Summary: Who, What, Where, Desired Outcomes in relation to NFP Goals and Community Risk Assessment and
Mitigation Plans (This should summarize page 2).
Institute for Washington's Future [IWF], Bear Fight Institute [BFI]and Upper Rendezvous Landowners Association in cooperation with Methow Forest
Owners Cooperative, Okanogan Communities Development Council, Methow Conservancy, DNR, USDA-FS, and WDFW will continue the fuels
reduction work that is in varying stages of completion on approximately 976 acres of private land located in T35 R21 S 5, 6, 7 and 8, seven miles
NW of Winthrop. The project includes value added slash utilization, defensible space creation, wildfire contingency planning, landowner education
and development of a long-term maintenance plan. This project will reduce the short and long term risk of negative impacts from fire events.
Project Location:
Latitude: -120.248
Longitude: 48.553
County:
Okanogan
Name of Federal, State or Tribal contact with whom you coordinated this proposal:
Federal Congressional District:
5
Telephone number of Contact:
Leahe Swayze (USDA-FS)
509-996-4063 Ext.
Ron Wonch (Washington Department of Natural Resources)
509-684-7474 Ext.
Ext.
Project Narrative Description
Applications for funding must include a narrative response that describes the proposal. Please do not submit responses
longer than one page, single space, 12-pitch font.
Describe project including, but not limited to:
x project relationship to the community risk assessment and
x project location (e.g., Watershed,
Address
mitigation plan
neighboring community)
these items
as applicable: x anticipated outcomes
x amount or extent of actions (acres, number of homes, etc.)
x project timeline and matching or contributed funds
x community partners and their
role(s)
x proponent’s ability to complete project
For this project, explain the level of cooperation, coordination or strategic planning, through a “Local Coordination
Group.” If you have not worked with a local coordination group, why not?
Project Coordinator, Dave Demyan, has participated in the "Local Coordination Group". [See Below]
Is this project adjacent to a current prescribed burn project on federal lands or to one that is planned within the next
three years? (Yes/No) No
Please indicate planned treatments and associated acres:
* Treatment Thinning
Acres 255
Treatment Lop and Scatter
Acres 55
Treatment Hand Piling
Acres 200
Treatment
Acres 0
If you have a treatment type other than standard types above:
Other 1 Strategic Pruning
Acres 98
Other 2
Acres 0
The Upper Rendezvous Project area encompasses 976 acres of the headwaters of the upper Cub Creek drainage. It is a patchwork of dry site
forest, aspen groves, forest/steppe ecotone, shrub/grassland and riparian areas. Over the past decade the Upper Rendezvous Landowners have
engaged in a variety of management activities to improve fire preparedness. Following nearly a century of fire suppression the task is daunting.
Financial resources and time have limited the ability of landowners to adequately address the issue. The paramount objective of this project will be
to reduce the risk of negative environmental, health and economic impacts during wildfire events. Coordinated implementation of thinning, pruning,
piling and burning will achieve the primary objective. Ancillary considerations of air quality, economics, wildlife habitat retention, aesthetics, ongoing
maintenance, structure protection and wildfire suppression will also be achievements of this project.
Landowners are the primary project partners. They have maintained a fire-fighting engine, cooperate on road maintenance and are now working
together on fuels reduction and fire preparedness. The Methow Forest Owners Cooperative with Okanogan Communities Development Council
[OCDC] are also major partners in this project. IWF/BFI is working closely with them as plans are being made to have the infrastructure in place to
handle small diameter material that will be generated during this project. Air quality as well as economic issues are driving this effort. Utilization of
the material will decrease the tonnage of material that will be burned in the field thus reducing air pollution. This project will not only assure a supply
of materials, but also provide place to set up a yard to perform the work. Methow Conservancy, which holds conservation easements on more than a
third of the project area, will be lending their technical expertise to assure that wildlife habitat and conservation values will be protected. Washington
State DNR is continuing to offer their expertise through the Firewise program and close cooperation with the area fire officer. Landowners will learn
about structure protection, wildfire behavior and fire fighting tactics. Detailed maps will be created with road conditions, structures, water sources
and safety zones to be distributed to landowners, emergency services and firefighting entities. Coordination of management plans will be done with
USDA-FS and WDFW whose lands border the Upper Rendezvous, to the West, East and South. This cooperation has been previously
demonstrated with a controlled burn conducted on USDA-FS and private land at the north end of the Upper Rendezvous. The project area borders
public lands. The treatments and detailed mapping will greatly improve the safety and efficacy of fire suppression efforts in the event of wildfire. As
part of this project close communication with the agencies will permit complementary management activities. IWF/BFI is an active participant in the
Methow Community Fire Plan Coordination Group planning process.
Four hundred acres will receive fuels reduction treatments during the course of this project. Treatments will include non-commercial thinning,
pruning, hand piling and burning. There are over 30 dwellings and over 2000 acres in the Upper Rendezvous that will be at less risk, during wildfire
events, following this project. Annual evaluations of fire preparedness, including fuel conditions around structures will be part of a long-term strategy
in the Upper Rendezvous.
Work will commence April of 2006 and be completed by December of 2006. Landowner match of 25% for treatments will be in the form of cash,
labor and material contributed for value-added firewood/specialty products. Land suitable for this facility is also a Rendezvous landowner
contribution. Material and a location for a value added facility will reduce start up costs and help build infrastructure for future fuels reduction
projects.
Institute for Washington's Future has been involved in Community development Projects since 1995
Dave Demyan, BFI, has planned and successfully implemented the treatments on over 1000 acres of the Upper Rendezvous area since 1999.
Project Evaluation Criteria
Applications for funding must include narrative responses that address the following three criteria. Be sure you address every one
briefly, yet thoroughly. Limit your responses to the area provided.
1. Reducing Hazardous Fuels (50 points)
A. Describe the community infrastructure that will be protected.
B. Explain how the proposal reduces fire behavior in high hazard areas by describing the fuels to be disposed or
removed, and the techniques and timing of the treatments.
C. How will the proposed treatments be maintained in future years?
D. How will you use multi-party monitoring to improve this and future projects?
Response:
A. The Upper Rendezvous Area, nearly 2000 acres, consists of 63 parcels of land and over 30 structures. The project area has 23
dwellings and the majority of the forested acres that are in need of treatment. The area is typical of the wildland urban interface,
with out of balance thick forest. The ski/bike trail forest service road would be much less popular following a fire event. Recreation
has become a major part of the local economy and protection of the view shed is an important part of protecting that industry. A
fire event with the present fuel loading would be devastating for the existing recreational use of the area surrounding the Upper
Rendezvous. It would also be detrimental to mule deer fawning areas. The Upper Rendezvous area is a defacto wildlife refuge
that will benefit from fuels reduction activities. This again relates to the local community's tourist businesses, which depend on
hunters for fall season revenues.
B. Thinning, pruning, piling and burning are the core physical activities of the project. Many acres of the Upper Rendezvous are
aspen, steppe or have been previously thinned. Treating 400 acres of the project area will effectively protect all structures and
provide areas where suppression efforts can be safe and effective. Fuel types vary across the terrain, which includes a variety of
cover types and fuel loads. Dense thickets of Douglas-fir and ponderosa pine are the high priority areas for non-commercial
thinning, hand piling and burning. Pathogens have created the potential for extreme fire behavior. Approximately 255 acres will
be thinned, 98 acres will be pruned and 45 acres have already been thinned and require only hand piling. These figures may
change as landowner efforts will continue through 2005. Portions of the project area where pruning will occur are at natural or
manmade firebreaks to aid in suppression efforts. Contract forestry crews and/or the landowners will perform the work. Forestry
prescriptions will require that treatments follow a natural leave tree selection process, which results in clumps, clusters and
groupings of the most vigorous trees interspersed with numerous clearings. This approach to non-commercial thinning eliminates
the risk of sustained crown fires, promotes multi-aged stands, increases snow deposition, moderates runnoff, reduces populations
of pathogenic insect populations and enhances understory plant community diversity. Thinning with forestry crews will take place
in early summerfollowed by hand piling that will occur in August, September and October. Burning will be completed by early
December. Landowners, performing the treatments themselves, will schedule the timing of their treatments, but all will be
completed no later than December. The firewood/pole value added component of the project will continue beyond the term of this
project. This project will emphasize cost-effective treatments implemented strategically over the project area to provide fire fighters
with as safe an environment as possible during fire events, protect dwellings and landowners and maintain these conditions
through continued natural forest management.
C. Mechanical treatments, or controlled burns in conjunction with FS, will be implemented to maintain desired stocking levels.
Improved growth rates of trees will permit future commercial harvests that will pay for maintenance treatments in the future.
Compared to initial treatments that will restore sustainable fire safe stocking levels, ongoing maintenance costs will be minimal.
D. Collaborative partners will represent multiple perspectives to assure that economic and environmental objectives are met for this
immediate project. IWF and BFI has relationships with environmental groups that are supportive of the work that has been done.
Results will be posted on a website with photos and monitoring data. The Methow Conservancy will also monitor their easement
properties in the Upper Rendezvous.
Project Evaluation Criteria
2.
Increasing Local Capacity (25 points)
A. How would the proposal improve or lead to the improvement of the local economy in terms of jobs and
sustainable economic activity?
B. How many jobs are expected to be created or retained and for how long? (Please distinguish between
essentially year-round and seasonal jobs).
C. What tools and skills will be gained or utilized as a result of this project?
D. Will biomass be utilized; if so, in what manner and how much?
Response:
A. Utilization of firewood and poles will provide two to three new jobs processing and delivering product. Post and rails have the
potential to provide additional jobs building fences. Other possible uses for the material are furniture and flooring. The contribution
of a continuous and high quality supply of material will enhance the Cooperative's chance of successfully maintaining a value-added
business and fits in with OCDC's mission of assisting value added businesses. Utilization, rather than burning, will decrease the
amount of smoke released as part of the restoration process. Smoke has, in the past, had negative impacts on the local tourism
industry.
B. There will be approximately 20 jobs directly created for this project. 18 will be seasonal thinning, piling and burning jobs while two
to three will be year-round jobs operating the firewood/pole yard. The number of jobs created by further value added businesses that
this project will support are unknown.
C. Over the course of the project the landowners will learn a variety of dry site management skills which will translate to better long term forest management and wildfire preparedness.
Most of the accessible biomass over 2.5" in diameter, generated by this operation, will be utilized.
3.
Demonstrating Community and Intergovernmental Collaboration (25 Points)
A. How will this project implement a community risk assessment and mitigation plan? Include name of plan, date
it was prepared, and local contact to get a copy of the plan if requested.
B. How has this treatment been coordinated with adjacent landowners and local/State/Tribal/Federal agencies?
C. Identify the cooperators/partners involved in implementation of this project.
D. Describe the extent of current local support for the project, including any cost-sharing agreements.
Response:
A. The risk assessment and mitigation plan is in process. PSI is participating in the process via the Methow Community Fire Plan
Coordination Group. The group consists of public and private individuals involved in fuels reduction efforts.
B. The Implementation Plan has been prepared in consultation with bordering public land managers and private landowners
C. Methow Forest Owners Cooperative, OCDC, Methow Conservancy, DNR, USDA-FS, WDFW. Letters of Intent have been
obtained from landowners, Methow Forest Owners�¢?? Cooperative and OCDC.
D. Local environmentalists are in support of this type of fuels reduction treatment and utilization. Landowners are the primary driver
of the project and have committed to supplying cost share contributions. These contributions are in the form of cash, labor and inkind. In addition the landowners have agreed to donate any thinning materials that are accessible, with minimal environmental
impacts, for value added utilization. Land for the firewood/pole yard is also a landowner contribution.
Project Work Form
Tasks
Treatment plan
Prescriptions
Contracts
Solicit bids
Evaluate and select Contractors
Oversee forest work; provide education as
needed
Firewise Education
Time Frame
Responsible Party
Project Director
Adminstrator
April and May
Project Director
June
WDNR
Begin using byproducts
Coop/OCDC
Oversee and coordinate operations
Forest Treatments
Prepare and Present Draft fire preparednes
plan
Operate value added facility
Project director
July
Coop OCDC
Director
Oversee operations
Run valued added operation
Contractors
August
Coop OCDC
Forest Work
Contractors
Oversee operations
Present final draft fire preparedness plan
Value added
Hand pile
Project Director
September
Coop and OCDC
Contractors
Project Director
Oversee operations
Value Added
October and November
Coop and OCDC
Forest work Burn piles
Contractors
Oversee operations
Prepare final report
Project Director
December
Coop and OCDC
Value Added
Contractors
Project Budget
Coop OCDC
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant
Landowners
Partner 1
Partner 2
Total
Partner 3
Personnel
Project Administrator
Coop Staff
Subtotal
$18,480
$0
$0
$0
$0
$18,480
$0
$0
$23,750
$0
$0
$23,750
$18,480
$0
$23,750
$0
$0
$42,230
$0
$0
$4,620
Fringe Benefits
Health, L&I, etc.
$4,620
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$4,620
$0
$0
$0
$4,620
$500
$0
$0
$0
$0
$500
$0
$0
$0
$500
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$500
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$12,240
$0
$0
$0
$0
$12,240
$2,100
$0
$0
$0
$0
$2,100
$14,340
$0
$0
$0
$0
$14,340
$56,700
$0
$0
$0
$0
$56,700
$150,678
$0
$0
$0
$50,226
$0
$200,904
$207,378
$0
$50,226
$0
$257,604
Landowner planning
$0
$0
$0
$10,800
$0
$10,800
Land Rental and wood
$0
$0
$23,750
$0
$23,750
$0
$0
$0
$0
$34,550
$0
$34,550
$245,318
$0
$23,750
$84,776
$0
$353,844
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
Subtotal
Travel
Staff
$0
Subtotal
Equipment
Subtotal
Supplies
Forest kraft paper, fuel
Printing, mapping, etc.
Subtotal
Contractual
Project Director
Forest Work
Subtotal
Other
Subtotal
Total Costs
Project (Program)
Income1
___________________________________
1
Program income is the gross revenue generated by a grant or cooperative agreement supported activity during the life of the grant. Program
income can be made by recipients from fees charged for conference or workshop attendance, from rental fees earned from renting out real
property or equipment acquired with grant or cooperative agreement funds, or from the sale of commodities or items developed under the grant
or cooperative agreement. The use of Program Income during the project period may require prior approval by the granting agency.