ID Number 2007-24
Fuels Treatment Projects Application
NATIONAL FIRE PLAN COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE AND WILDLAND URBAN INTERFACE PROJECTS
Applicant
Applicant/Organization:
Oregon Department of Forestry/NEO District/Union County
Type of Applicant:
A (State)
Email:
msmith@odf.state.or.us/mjacques@odf.state.or.us
Phone:
503-945-7341
FAX:
503-945-7416
Please Call Ahead for FAX:
Off
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
2600 State Street Salem, OR 97310
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Mary Helen Smith, Grant Coordinator/Mark Jacques, Unit Forester
Organization/Jurisdiction:
State of Oregon Department of Forestry
Email:
msmith@odf.state.or.us/mjacques@odf.state.or.us
Phone:
503-945-7341
FAX:
503-945-7416
Please Call Ahead for FAX:
Off
Project Information
Project Title:
Union County Fuels Reduction Continuation
Project Location:
Union County, Oregon
County:
Union
Congressional District:
2
Latitude:
45.33
Longitude:
118.085
State the desired outcome in relation to NFP Goals and the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP). Project Objectives:
Private landowners/homeowners in the highest priority areas identified in the Union County CWPP will be provided assistance through Oregon Department
of Forestry to continue treating fuels that modify fire behavior. The WUI areas of Morgan Lake and Cove have had 314 acres and 50 homesites treated using
previous NFP and Forest Health grants, which are nearly expended. This proposal will treat 350 additional acres and include Stubblefield Mt and Palmer Jct
(near Elgin), and Perry/Hilgard WUI (near LaGrande). Landowner interest is high. Current infrastructure already in place and built with previous NFP grants
will be used, including: trained labor force, technical guidelines, tracking and reporting systems, local coordinating group, and federal, state, county and
private partnerships. Project meets the intent of the NFP and the County CWPP in that it emphasizes fuels reduction to protect communities and their values
from the risk of a large wildfire event.
Name of CWPP:
Union County Community Wildfire Protection Plan
Name of Communit(y/ies) at Risk:
Morgan, Cove, Palmer, Perry/Hilgard, Stubblefield
Proposed Project Start Date:
09/01/2007
Proposed Project End Date:
12/31/2010
Federal Funding Request:
$155,749.00
Total Project Cost:
$201,049.00
Are you submitting multiple projects?
Yes
If YES indicate the relationship of the projects to one another: S (Sequential)
If YES, please list the titles of projects by priority and briefly explain their relationship.
The State of Oregon is submitting multiple projects.
Name of Federal, State or Tribal contact with whom you coordinated this
proposal:
Organization/Jurisdiction:
1) Mary Gibson, District Ranger
Umatilla National Forest-Walla Walla RD
Phone
509-522-6293
Email mgibson@fs.fed.us
2) Kurt Wiedemann, District Ranger
Wallowa-Whitman NF-La Grande Ranger District
Phone
Email kwiedemann@fs.fed.us
541-962-8582
3) Ken Rockwell, Fuels and Air Quality Manager
Phone
541-523-1262
Wallowa-Whitman NF - Supervisor's Office
Email krockwell@fs.fed.us
Project Planning Information
Name of Local Coordinating Group:
Union County Local Coordination Group (same group for CWPP).
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?
Union County Local Coordination Group identified this as their highest priority on January 5, 2006.
List federal lands that are adjacent to the project and proximity.
Near the Green Pelican/Three Cabin USFS Prescribed Burn Project.
A) Is there a current hazardous fuels treatment or one that is planned in the next three years on federal land that is adjacent to this project?
Yes
B) Specifically is this project adjacent to a current prescribed burn project or one that is planned in the next three years on Forest Service lands?
Yes
Please indicate planned treatments and associated acres:
Treatment
Thinning
Acres
250
Treatment
Machine Pile
Acres
50
Treatment
Hand Pile
Acres
50
Treatment
Biomass Removal
Acres
200
Treatment
Chipping
Acres
75
If you have a treatment type other than standard types above:
Treatment
Slashbuster
Acres
125
Project Evaluation Criteria
Applications for funding must include narrative responses that address the following criteria. Be sure you address every one briefly, yet thoroughly.
1. Reducing Hazardous Fuels (40 points)
A. Describe the community infrastructure that will be protected. This should include how this project implements all or part of the CWPP strategy. (15
points)
Response:
Each of the communities at risk has individual infrastructure that will ultimately be served by this project. Roads,
powerlines, structures, and watersheds are among the types of infrastructure to be protected in or near each of the
communities previously identified. Work will continue near La Grande (pop. 13,000)in Morgan Lake and
Perry/Hilgard, and Cove (pop. 700). Work will be initiated near Elgin (pop. 1,720)in Palmer Junction and Stubblefied
Mountain. Each of these areas and the infrastructure within is identified as a priority in the Union County CWPP as
overall high hazard WUI areas.
B. Explain how the proposal reduces fire behavior in high hazard areas by describing the fuels to be disposed or removed, the techniques and timing of the
treatments, and the treatment location relative to the values to be protected. (15 points)
Response:
Fuels in these high hazard areas vary from those associated with dry Ponderosa pine types to those associated with
cool, wet mixed-species interior forest sites with Western larch, Grand fir, Douglas fir and Engelmann spruce.
Treatments in pine stands will be timed in the fall and early winter, or use methods of treatment that do not promote
Ips beetle. This will prevent mortality that can create a fuel hazard. Hazard reduction projects will be conducted in
areas designated in the Union County CWPP as high hazard WUI areas, protecting the communities and their values
within each WUI.
C. Explain how the project is designed to reduce smoke production impacts that affect public health. (10 points)
Response:
Many of the projects being conducted on private lands in Northeast Oregon are being done in a manner that produces
little or no smoke. The community of La Grande was designated by the Department of Environmental Quality as a
PM10 non-attainment area in 1991. Landowners in Union County that are producing smoke as part of a fuels project
actively participate in the Union County Smoke Management program. This program involves calling before
conducting a smoke producing activity to find out local weather and smoke dispersal forecasts and then complying
with the forecast suggestions.
2. Increasing Local Capacity (20 points)
A. How would the implementation of the proposed project improve or lead to the improvement of the local economy in terms of jobs and sustainable
economic activity assuming that these grant funds would be used as "seed monies" for future projects. i.e. How many community supported jobs would be
created and for how long would they expect to last? (10 points)
Response:
This project will create ecological, economical and socially sustainable forest conditions on 350 acres providing
biomass (fiber, sawlogs) in the short and long-term to the local economy. Thinning/fuel reduction work is designed to
restore forest conditions to fuel class 1, sustained by future periodic, economically-viable thinning/fuel treatments by
individual landowners, thus providing the seed for future work by local contractors. This project is estimated to create
10-15 woodland jobs.
B. Will biomass that is produced by the project be utilized; if so, in what manner and how much? (10 points)
Response:
Biomass will be utilized where feasible. Currently, biomass larger than 1.5" in diameter is being used for firewood in
the Warm Hearts/Warm Homes program taking place among the NE Oregon counties. This project will generate
approximately 100 cords of firewood, going to low-income citizens, via a partnership between ODF,Dept. of Human
Services,Powder River Corrections, Community Connection, and Neighbor-to-Neighbor ministries. Any other
biomass opportunities will be welcome and used if avail
3. Demonstrating Community and Intergovernmental Collaboration (20 Points)
A. Describe how this project has been collaborated and coordinated with adjacent landowners, local/state/Tribal/federal agencies, and community groups
such as neighborhood associations. (10 points)
Response:
This project has been coordinated, and will continue to be, with adjacent private landowners,State and Federal land
managers via the Union County Forest Restoration Board,which includes these entities as well as county, public and
environmental interest group representatives.Specific projects in each WUI are coordinated annually with the Union
County LCG group (aka, CWPP committee) and each National Forest's Fuels Coordinator.Data and project locations
are shared across districts and boundaries
B. Describe the communities/partners contributions to this project such as: cash or in-kind contributions, cost share agreements, equipment, or labor
(including volunteer work). (10 points)
Response:
Landowners/Homeowners have cost-share agreements with ODF for the project: The landowner contributes 25% of
the project. Training and Employment Consortium provides a labor force of at-risk youth at a lower cost to work for
landowners. Powder River Corrections provides a work force at a reduced rate for the removal of biomass for the
firewood program. Other contributions provided are volunteer or in-kind as part of informal collaborative agreements
developed by the Local Coordinating Group.
4. Managing Cost Efficiency (20 points)
Discuss the process you used to arrive at your cost structure for the main Project Budget areas such as personnel, equipment, supplies and other (i.e.
overhead). In your response please justify: cost per acre, purchase of equipment, percent of overhead, percent of partner or matching funds, and portion of
administration cost. (20 points)
Response:
Oregon Department of Forestry has a history of providing cost-share and technical assistance to private landowners in
Oregon via federally funded programs. Northeast Oregon District uses a cost-share model based on previous costshare programs, to determine the rate per acre for each project. Using these guidelines, an average cost per acre for
this type of work is typically $500. This includes thinning and slash treatment. In extreme cases, cost-share rates may
be as much as $700-$800 per acre. The cost-share model that has been used in Northeast Oregon provides for a 75%
cost share payment to the landowner. This payment is based on a per acre, per component rate. The payment allows
for the landowner to receive 75% of the actual cost to have the work completed, or a maximum payment, not to
exceed the per acre rate. The other costs associated with this project are for the personnel to maintain and promote the
project, other personnel expenses such as travel expenses to and from the individual project sites, and miscellaneous
operating expenses, such as mailing supplies and forms.
Project Work Form
Tasks
Time Frame
Responsible Party
Assist landowners with applications, determine
eligibility, evaluate sites, approve applications,
provide on-going technical assistance.
09/01/2007-10/01/2007
Oregon Department of Forestry-La Grande Unit
Conduct Fuels Treatment Work
10/15/2007-11/01/2007
Local Contractors, Forest Consultants, and
Landowners
Inspect and approve completed work; submit
project for reimbursement/payment
10/30/2008-11/30/2010
Oregon Department of Forestry-La Grande Unit;
Oregon Department of Forestry-Finance Staff
(Salem)
Provide accomplishment reports for NFP reporting;
coordinate with Union County LCG/CWPP and
report accomplishments for monitoring and
evaluation
On-going
Oregon Department of Forestry-Northeast Oregon
District
Provide information to public and news media on
project
On-going
Oregon Department of Forestry-Northeast Oregon
District
Project Budget
Private
Landowners
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant
Partner 1
Partner 2
Partner 3
Total
Personnel
ODF Forester
Salem Admin (3%)
Subtotal
$10,238.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$10,238.00
$4,672.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$4,672.00
$14,910.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$14,910.00
$4,914.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$4,914.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$4,914.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$4,914.00
$3,125.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$3,125.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$3,125.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$3,125.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$1,550.00
$1,550.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$3,100.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$1,550.00
$1,550.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$3,100.00
$131,250.00
$0.00
$43,750.00
$0.00
$0.00
$175,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$131,250.00
$0.00
$43,750.00
$0.00
$0.00
$175,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$155,749.00
$1,550.00
$43,750.00
$0.00
$0.00
$201,049.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Fringe Benefits
Other Personnel Expenses
Subtotal
Travel
2500 miles at $1.25
Subtotal
Equipment
Subtotal
Supplies
Misc. forms, postage, etc
Subtotal
Contractual
Thin/Treat fuel 350 Acres
Subtotal
Other
Subtotal
Total Costs
Project (Program) Income 1
(using deductive alternative)
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.
1