Enclosure 3A - Project Summary Form
NATIONAL FIRE PLAN COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE AND WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE PROJECTS
Application for Wildland Urban Interface Fuels / Education and
Prevention / Community Planning for Fire Protection Projects
Applicant
Applicant/Organization:
The Lands Council
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
509-838-4912
509-838-5155
tlc@landscouncil.org
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
921 West Sprague Avenue, Suite 205 , Spokane, WA 99201
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Mike Petersen, Executive Director
Organization/Jurisdiction:
The Lands Council
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
509-838-4912
509-838-5155
mpeters@televar.com
Project Information
Project Title:
Rural Wildfire Protection Startup Program
Project Start:
Project End:
June 1, 2002
December 1, 2002
Federal Funding Request:
Total Project Funding:
$17,200.00
$21,500.00
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:
Yes, also submitting a grant to continue our existing program which is our priority.
Brief Project Description:
The program will develop fire education & defensible space planning assistance programs with
existing non-profit organizations in three areas of Region 6. The organizations would start their
wildfire programs with grant money & training we provide and write their own grant to support and
expand their program in the next grant cycle for the National Fire Plan (August, 2002). These
groups would be trained in how to do outreach, identify sites, produce defensible space plans,
complete on-site work, monitor progress, track important data and coordinate with relevant
agencies and authorities. The groups will be encouraged to hire & train low income community
members to do work whenever possible.A training package will be developed for the groups, which
includes educational handouts, outreach and planning strategies, recordkeeping methods and grant
writing. The Lands Council has information based on their existing program that will be organized
into an easy to use package. We will monitor and report on the success of our efforts.
Project Location:
County:
Congressional District:
Three locations in Region 6
Chelan, Columbia, Union
WA-4 and 5th,OR-2nd
Project Type: Check appropriate project type. More than one type may be checked. If only Box (4) is checked, use Enclosure 4.
(1)
(2)
Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Project
Wildland Urban Interface Education and Prevention Project
(3)
(4)
Community Planning for Fire Protection Project
Fuels Utilization and Marketing Project
If the applicant is an unincorporated area, define the geographic area being represented:
Enclosure 3B (Page 1 of 3) - 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:
 project location
Address these
 project implementation
items as
 anticipated outcomes
applicable:
 measures and reporting
 partners





project income
project time frames
specify types of activities and equipment used
amount or extent of actions (acres, number of homes, etc)
environmental, cultural and historical resource requirements
In 2001, we received a grant to work in northeast Washington to assist rural communities with
reducing wildfire risks, both through education and technical planning assistance. Since then, we have
provided workshops in rural communitites on defensible space, we have advertised free defensible space
planning through newspapers, radio stations, county mailings and door-to-door rural outreach and we have
begun to write 'Home Survivability Plans' to develop defensible space around homes in these areas. In
addition, we have developed educational handouts on what defensible space is and why it works, what types
of roofing, decking and window construction materials are 'fire-resistive' and how to landscape with 'fireresistive' plant species in the inland northwest. We now want to take the tools and training we have created
and use them to expand rural fire protection efforts into other parts of Region 6, by establishing programs in
three other counties or communities.
Response:
The Lands Council and our partners will collaborate with federal, state and local agencies and organzations in
efforts to promote defensible space and the work associated with it. With our help, start up groups will model
their program off our current Wildfire Education Program to provide opportunitites to rural homeowners in
protecting their homes and property from wildfire. Having this startup training available greatly increases the
likelihood of these organizations developing their own defensible space program within their area. Upon
review, these areas are currently lacking in non-agency efforts to educate private homeowners in the
wildland-urban interface about defensible space planning.
Our Rural Wildfire Protection Startup Program has the capability and potential to succeed as evidenced by the
current success of our existing wildfire education program and the inroads we have made into these rural
areas. The startup project grant will enable The Lands Council to conduct two trainings of three days each at
the three separate project areas, provide the partner groups with all the materials they need, and provide the
partners with 4 weeks of salary and travel to begin the project work after our trainings. Our current outreach
efforts have shown that the highest success rate is achieved through personal contact and personal mailings.
This is the model we will train the new projects to use because it results in a higher level of education for the
homeowner and builds trust for such efforts within these small, tight-knit communities.
Our program is based on the belief that by taking personal responsibility for private property, together we can
create fire-adapted communities that have the ability to survive wildfire. Communities that are better
prepared for fires also offer a safer and more effective working environment for firefighters. Expanding this
program into three new areas will increase the effectiveness of the National Fire Plan and educate
communities on the importance of defensible space when residing in wildland-urban interface zones.
Enclosure 3B (Page 2 of 3) - Project Evaluation Criteria
Applications for funding must include narrative responses that address the following four criteria. Within each criterion, subcriteria are listed in descending order of importance. Limit your responses to the areas provided.
1. Reducing Fire Risk. (40 points))
A. Describe how the proposal promotes reduction of risk in high hazard areas or communities.
B. Describe how the proposed project benefits resources on federal land or adjacent non-federal land, or how it protects the safety
of communities.
C. To what extent does the project implement or create a cooperative fuels treatment plan or community fire strategy (include
evidence of the plan if it already exists)?
D. Explain to what extent the affected community or proponent has been involved or plans to involve the affected community in a
qualified fuels education program (e.g., FIREWISE).
E. Explain how the proposal (a) leads to, enhances or restores a local fire-adapted ecosystem, and/or (b) mitigates or leads to the
mitigation of hazardous fuel conditions.
F. How will the proposed treatments be maintained over time?
Response: The program
directly reduces wildfire risks to private property because it involves defensible space
planning and education in high risk areas and wildland/urban interface communities. Outreach target areas
are selected based on their proximity to forested areas and include interface lands specifically recommended
by the FS for fuels reduction concerns. Through the program, we are increasing the safety of defending these
homes in a wildfire situation as well as reducing the risk of fire spreading from or onto adjacent federal and
non-federal lands. Community safety is enhanced as more and more homes within a similar area create
defensible space. By helping new groups acquire the materials and skills to do wildfire education and defense
in their areas we are expanding the successful work of our program into new geographic areas.We will also
look at the opportunity to hold Firewise Workshops, or work with local and state agencies to provide support
for these workshops. In Chelan County a workshop was held last year, but it may be useful to hold a followup workshop. The project coordinator has been trained in the Firewise program.A key concept is that the
threat and risk of wildfire is a barrier to the use of prescribed or natural fire in adjacent forest lands. By
instilling confidence and a sense of home security from wildfire it should be easier for the Forest Service and
state agencies to communicate the need to restore the surrounding fire-adapted ecosystem.
2. Increasing local capacity. (30 points)
A. How would the proposal improve or lead to the improvement of the local economy in terms of jobs and sustainable economic
activity? How many jobs are expected to be created or retained and for how long (please distinguish between essentially yearround and seasonal jobs)?
B. To what extent will this project be offered to serve as a model for other communities?
C. Will biomass or forest fuels be utilized; if so, in what manner and how much?
Response:
The local economies of the three project areas will be positively affected by our program because we are
establishing new programs which will each have staff for education, outreach and defensible space planning.
Implementation of these plans will likely be done through another entity, but one which has already specified
interest in utilizing local contractors and crews for the vegetation modification work. It is quite possible that
the programs we start will be writing hundreds of plans as a result of our assistance.
These three separate start up projects will serve as a model for further efforts in Washington and Oregon. As
with our current program we will incorporate media and community outreach as part of our efforts.
Forest fuels on private property will be utilized and removed, as much as necessary to create an adequate
zone of defensible space. Fuels are either removed or chipped and scattered during implementation. Some
homeowners may choose to pile and burn fuels.
Enclosure 3B (Page 3 of 3) - Project Evaluation Criteria
3. Increasing interagency and intergovernmental coordination. (15 Points)
A. Describe how this project implements a local intergovernmental strategy plan, or creates such a plan. Describe the plan if it
already exists.
B. Explain the level of cooperation, coordination or strategic planning among federal, state, tribal, local government and
community organizations. List the cooperators.
Response:
The program is based on implementing fuels reduction in rural counties of priority as described in the
National Fire Plan. We are committed to ensuring that the organizations we work with will collaborate with
local, state and federal agencies in their area, including the Forest Service, WA Dept. of Natural Resources,
Oregon Department of Forestry and county government and fire agencies.
We have been in contact with the Oregon Department of Forestry and Oregon FireFree staff and had initial
discussions about the geographic scope of our three projects and are committed to having an education and
planning protocol that matches the national and state Firewise Programs. Potential partners with expressed
interest in this startup program include Hells Canyon Preservation Council based in LaGrande, Oregon and
Leavenworth Audobon Adopt-A-Forest located in Peshastin, Washington. We are pursuing a third partner
currently.As we have done with our project in NE Washington, we will work with the interested parties on
developing sound database collection and maintenance. At the close of the grant period we will evaluate the
program and deliver a report to the USFS Region 6 and all other interested parties. The evaluation will detail
how the three startup programs are working, the cost-efficiency of the project (expenditures spent on fireproofing poor households vs. other expenditures), number of people hired to do the work, and other items. In
addition, we will provide this information about the success of the pilot projects to interested parties.
4. Expanding Community Participation. (15 Points)
A. To what extent have interested people and communities been provided an opportunity to become informed and involved in this
proposal?
B. Describe the extent of local support for the project, including any cost-sharing arrangements.
C. What are the environmental, social and educational benefits of the project?
Response: By helping to
establish programs in additional areas, people and communitites within those areas
will have the opportunity to become involved in the rural assistance program of the National Fire Plan.
Information and opportunities will be more readily available by having local entities involved due to their
familiarity with the communitites and high-risk areas. Two potential partners (existing non-profit groups)
have expressed interest in this proposal because it would provide assistance in developing their own programs
without having to start from scratch.Through our existing program we are in contact with the Washington
Department of Natural Resources and the Forest Service. In Oregon we have communicated with several
agencies, including the Oregon Department of Forestry and FireFree. Support for our existing program
appears to be strong. Environmental benefits include a shift in public perception of fire and public land
management, fuels reduction in areas of high risk and better planning with regards to rural development and
sprawl. Social benefits include protection of homes, lives, neighborhoods, community participation and more
efficient financial planning and spending.Educational benefits include opportunitites to learn about how fire
spreads, what types of fuels are most risky, fire ecology and what it means to live in rural areas within the
forest. As each of the model projects is implemented the communities involved will have an increased
awareness and knowledge of how to protect their homes and communities from the effects of wildfires.
Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form
Tasks
Time Frame
Responsible Party
Prepare training and outreach materials
June -July 2002
The Lands Council
Organize and conduct meetings in each of the
three project areas that involve all interested
agencies and people involved in community
wildfire defensible space efforts.
July 2002
The Lands Council
Visit, train and provide materials for each of
three groups. We estimate that this will
involve two site visits of three days each for
each group.
July- September 2002
The Lands Council
Begin wildfire outreach and plan writing in
each of the three project areas
August 2002
Hells Canyon Preservation Council,
Leavenworth Audubon Adopt-AForest, and unknown
Apply for funding to continue the program
past the start-up phase
August 2002
Hells Canyon Preservation Council,
Leavenworth Audubon Adopt-AForest, and unknown
Evaluation of startup program
December 2002
The Lands Council
Enclosure 3D Project Budget
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant
Personnel
$9,500.00
$2,500.00
Subtotal
$9,500.00
$2,500.00
Fringe Benefits
$2,400.00
$0.00
Subtotal
$2,400.00
$0.00
Travel
$2,500.00
Subtotal
$2,500.00
$0.00
Partner 1
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Partner 2
Total
$0.00
$12,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$12,000.00
$0.00
$2,400.00
$0.00
$0.00
$2,400.00
$0.00
$2,500.00
$0.00
$0.00
$2,500.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$450.00
$0.00
$0.00
$450.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Equipment
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
Supplies
$300.00
$150.00
Subtotal
$300.00
$150.00
$0.00
$0.00
Contractual
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
Other
$2,500.00
$1,650.00
Subtotal
$2,500.00
$1,650.00
$0.00
$0.00
$4,150.00
$0.00
$0.00
$4,150.00
Total Costs
$17,200.00
$4,300.00
$0.00
$0.00
$21,500.00
Project (Program) Income1
(using deductive alternative)
1
$0.00
$0.00
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.