Project Summary Form
Id Number 2006-003
NATIONAL FIRE PLAN COMMUNITY ASSISTANCE AND WILDLAND URBAN-INTERFACE PROJECTS
Application for Fuels Treatment Projects
Applicant
Applicant/Organization:
State of Oregon Department of Forestry/SWO District/Medford
Phone: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
Type of Applicant: (enter appropriate letter in box)
A
503-945-7341
FAX: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
A. State
B. County
C. Municipal
D. Township
E. Interstate
503-945-7416
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):
2600 State Street Salem, OR 97310
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Mary Helen Smith Grant Coordinator/Teresa Vonn Field Coordinator
Organization/Jurisdiction:
Oregon Department of Forestry-SWO District-Medford Unit
Phone: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
503-945-7341
FAX: (111 111-1111 x 1111)
503-945-7416
Call Ahead For FAX
Email:
msmith@odf.state.or.us
Project Information
Project Title:
Seven Basins Strategic Fuels Reduction Project
Proposed Project Start Date:
03/01/2006
Federal Funding Request:
$ 252,474
Proposed Project End Date:
12/31/2007
Total Project Funding:
$
615,158
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:
This is a stand alone project. It is one of three being submitted for Jackson County by ODF. This grant ranks as number one for Jackson
County by ODF due to the coordination of proposed treatments with other organizations and agencies, and due to the completeness of fire
plans.
* Requested funding would create defensible space around 150 homes and an additional 150 acres along driveways and extended
defensible space.
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).
This project implements the Seven Basins Wildfire Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan. The SBNFPP is a collaborative partnership between
Jackson County, OSU Extension, ODF, BLM, the Seven Basins Watershed Council, and local residents. The grant focuses on homes in the
watershed without completed defensible space and provides cost-share for larger fuels treatment areas, expanding the traditional defensible space.
These treated areas will be strategically placed adjacent to or complementary to existing and proposed BLM fuel treatment parcels. The project is
located in Evans amd Rogue Gold 5th field watersheds covering approximately 260,000 acres, 391 sq miles, and includes 4,000 homes. This
project will provide financial assistance to citizens for fuel reduction in these communites-at-risk as well as extensive community outreach
involvement including one-on-one consultations with ODF foresters, neighborhood meetings, and community classes and demonstrations.
Project Location:
Latitude: 42.43459
Longitude: 123.05
County:
Jackson
Name of Federal, State or Tribal contact with whom you coordinated this proposal:
Federal Congressional District:
2
Telephone number of Contact:
Leanne Mruzik, BLM, Fuel Management Specialist
541-618-2419 Ext.
Luis Ramirez, BLM, Forestry Technician
541-618-2218 Ext.
Teresa Vonn, ODF, District Protection Planner
541-664-3328 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?
Several members of the Josephine/Jackson County Local Coordinating Group have been contacted.
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 225
Treatment Hand Piling
Acres 225
Treatment Mastication/Mowing
Acres 75
Treatment Hand Pile Burning
Acres 225
If you have a treatment type other than standard types above:
Other 1
Acres 0
Other 2
Acres 0
* The project will be located in high risk areas throughout the Seven Basins Watershed with the emphasis being on those communities identified as
a priority in the Seven Basins Community Wildfire Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan. The focus for this grant will be the Lower Evans, Sykes
Creek, and Pleasant Creek subwatersheds which have heavy fuels, high ignition risk, and many homesites. This grant will be used to build on
existing successes to create defensible space around homes and expand that defensible space. Defensible space work in the watershed is currently
being accomplished through an existing Community Assistance grant administered by ODF. The existing cost-share grant has treated 288 homes
and 577 acres. The treatments proposed for the new grant are to be strategically placed in areas identified as high risk in the community fire plan
and are adjacent to or complementary to existing and proposed BLM fuel treatment parcels. The area includes approximately 4,000 rural residences.
The majority of those residences occur within 4 federally designated Communities-At-Risk, Rogue River, Gold Hill, Sams Valley, and Wimer,also
designated as high or extreme risk under Oregon SB 360.
* The project will create defensible space around 100 additional homes, will treat hazardous fuels along private roads and driveways lacking safe
ingress and egress, and will create strategically located neighborhood fuelbreaks, for a total of 300 acres treated.
* Ground surveys reveal that about 80% of residents in high risk areas meet minimal defensible space standards. However, in many cases fuel
loads are extremely heavy just beyond the defensible space and extend into wildland areas. In addition, approximately 3,000 homesites are located
on private roads or driveways beyond a 300 foot buffer around county-maintained roads. In many instances, these are dead end roads where safe
ingress and egress for residents and firefighters alike is a major concern.
* The new grant was developed in partnership with the Seven Basins Neighborhood Fire Planning Project which is a collaborative effort including
Jackson County OSU Extension, ODF, BLM, The Seven Basins Watershed Council and local residents. The participation and cooperation of the
Evans Valley Fire District, Rogue River Fire District, Jackson County Fire District #3, and the Jackson County Job Council, the Jackson County
Road Department and Jackson County Emergency Management have been essential to the community fire planning process and fuels treatment to
date.
* This area was the center of catastrophic interface fires of the 1990s burning homes and killing one firefighter. Since 1990 the watershed has been
prone to large fires including East Evans and Hull Mountain which each burned more than 5,000 acres and threatened numerous homes. During the
2003 and 2004 fire season this area was also the target of an arsonist. The watershed has experienced more than 1,400 fires in the past 35 years.
* The Seven Basins Watershed has a fire dependant ecosystem that experiences the most catastrophic fires in the state. Heavy fuel loading
resulting from decades of fire exclusion make wildfire intensities in this watershed very high. The area is characterized by steep topography, dense
brush, and heavy timber above the valley floor. Historically fast-moving grass fires start at lower elevations and run uphill into timber, threatening this
populated area.
* The communities-at-risk in this watershed have not until recently had a strong sense of community and have been considered the hardest to reach
by local, state, and federal agencies. This partnership has helped to build new partnerships and increased levels of cooperation and collaboration
between neighbors and agency partners. The community education component of the grant will be supported with written materials on thinning,
pruning, slash piling and burning, fire resistant plants, and emergency preparedness. OSU Extension is developing these materials in cooperation
with Seven Basins Watershed Council, BLM, and ODF.
* Anticipated outcomes: Creation of defensible space [homes and driveways], with potential for larger scale community fuel breaks, plans for
maintenance, and a reduction in the rate of human-caused fire occurrence through increased resident awareness and fire prevention education.
ODF will continue to participation in the SBNFPP as well as the Jackson County Fire Plan which will facilitate increased coordination between the
fire services, and local residents.* Partners / roles:
-Neighborhood groups/fire planning & hazard reduction actions
-ODF/Technical assistance for on-site residential hazard reduction recommendations/Community education/fuels treatment planning
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:
In addition to dwellings and residential out buildings, the Seven Basins Watershed, as well as important infrastructure such as
primarily power line and road systems, will be protected from fire, and fire-related erosion.
Fuel treatment areas will build on established defensible space strategically placed and expanded to provide for tactical
suppression. Reductions in the rate of human-caused fire occurrence and prevention of injuries / fatalities are anticipated as a
result of the one on one education each landowner receives when meeting with a Forest Officer to assess the potential for a costshare grant for fuel reduction. Fire prevention, fuels management, emergency planning and life safety education will be built into
community meetings, outreach, and all fire planning processes. Education efforts will include neighborhood meetings, classes,
tabloid publication and demonstrations. Modification of vegetation will reduce fire intensity, lessen the possibility of structure fires
extending into wildlands, create defensible space, improve fire apparatus access, and improved escape routes and safety zones
for area residents. Fuels to be treated include but are not limited to natural brush species such as manzanita, wedge-leaf
ceanothus, and madrone, and natural coniferous fir and pine tree species. Hazard reduction plans will also include treatment of
non-native, flammable vegetation such as scotch broom. Ladder arrangements and hazardous fuel continuity will be treated
through the processes of removal, reduction, or replacement with fire resistant plants. Treatment will be primarily by hand, but may
also include some use of mechanized equipment. Slash disposal will be accomplished through chipping and broadcasting on the
surface, to inhibit re-growth of brush, and enhance area soils through decomposition, burning, or lopping and scattering.
Mechanical treatment of landscape projects will occur during the drier months of April, May and October to limit soil compaction
and disturbance. Projects have been developed to tie into 362 acres of BLM hazardous fuel treatments, an additional 927 acres
are planned for 2005.
Long term maintenance will be stressed through education and reinforced in all cost-share agreements with the acknowledgment
that maintenance by the landowner is a condition of the cost-share. An aggressive education and outreach program sponsored by
the county, ODF and the SBNFPP partners, as well as those communities developing fire plans will be essential for the success
and maintenance of treated areas. The SBNFPP will emphasize the importance of maintenance by addressing this component in
all community fire planning efforts. A maintenance paper including contacts for tree planting and involvement in the State of
Oregon 50% tax credit program will be promoted targeting under productive forestlands. The SBNFPP and OSU Extension are
developing educational materials for both initial treatment and maintenance, these include fact sheets on treatment options and
prescriptions based on local conditions. Maintenance will also be one of the focuses of the fall 2005 issue of the SBNFPP semiannual mass mailing to all rural residents in the watershed.
Multi-party monitoring by ODF in partnership with the Seven Basins Watershed Council as part of the SBNFPP partnership will
implement project and effectiveness monitoring with the establishment of pre and post fuel treatment photo points. The SBWC has
agreed to take the lead on the monitoring component of the grant, collecting, compiling and managing photo points. GIS will be
used to identify proposed and completed treatment areas. Pre and post treatment photo points of 10% of the treated properties
will be collected and repeated 5 years post treatment. In the event of a fire through a treatment area photo points will also be
obtained for analysis of project effectiveness.
ODF has a long history of successfully implementing NFP grants.
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:
The fuel reduction industry in Southern Oregon has developed into a competitive venue for those willing to invest in equipment to
mulch or shred smaller diameter brush, both hardwoods and softwoods up to 6-8" DBH. One contractor is utilizing a shearer to
harvest small diameter material for utilization. Continuation of cost-share for fuel reduction will drive and expand this industry. Two
years ago there was one large slash buster working mostly on federal lands, today there are 5 smaller machines working on private
lands.
Both handcrews and machine treatment are used in Southern Oregon, with the machine work being limited by slope. Machine
operators and contract crews have asked to be included on a contractors list available to landowners upon request from ODF. Three
Forest Officers will work winter months to provide technical assisatnce, cost-share approval, and project compliance inspections.
Biomass utilization has historically been in the form of firewood and pole production by landowners. A few resource companies
seeking poles for furniture,fencing, and building materials will perform the fuel reduction if the number and quality of poles is of
particular abundance and quality. ODF maintains a list of pole companies/buyers available for landowners.
The Jackson County Fire Plan is actively seeking avenues of utilization of small diameter material and will continue to explore
opportunities with the BLM as they pioneer this field with stewardship contracts.
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:
This project will target strategic areas identified in the Seven Basins Community Wildfire Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plan,
completion date June 2005. Contact-Max Bennett, Forestry Agent,Jackson County Extension, 569 Hanley Road, Point,OR
97502,541-776-7371 x-207,max.bennett@oregonstate.edu. The plan and associated maps can be viewed on-line at:
http://extension.oregonstate.edu/sorec/Forestry/Fire03/fprevent.php
The mitigation plan calls for three steps at successively larger spatial scales:
1.Create and maintain defensible space and safe ingress/egress around homesites in CARs
2.Create and maintain strategically located neighborhood fuelbreaks and other fuels treatments, to protect property and resources
in CARs
3.Identify, create, and maintain strategically-located fuelbreaks and other treatments to mitigate the effects of landscape-scale fires
This project will also be coordinated as part of the Jackson County Fire Plan. Planning meetings to coordinate the risk assessment
and mitigation plan have just begun; date of completion is December 2007, contact- Lin Bernhardt, Jackson County Natural
Resources Coordinator, 10 South Oakdale Ave, Room 205 Medford, OR 97501, 774-6086, bernhald@jacksoncounty.org.
Treatment areas have been developed with SBNFPP, BLM, ODF, and local landowners. Local support for the project is high with
local demand exceeding availability of funds. This project builds on existing or proposed BLM projects, and existing private treated
lands. Currently the Jackson County Job council is utilizing youth at risk work crews to provide fuel reduction along private access
roads. This grant would build on an already successful cost-share program that provides a rebate of $330 per acre to landowners
approved to participate in the program.
Project Work Form
Tasks
Time Frame
On-site resident assistance - development of
individual hazard reduction plans
Responsible Party
Oregon Department of Forestry
March 1, 2006
Hazard Reduction activities
Landowners/Oregon Department of
Forestry/Contractors
3/1/06-12/31/07
Community planning meetings
Ongoing
Landowners/Oregon Department of
Forestry,Seven Basins National Fire
Plan Project (SBNFPP)Partners
Seven Basin Watershed Council
Monitoring / Evaluation
Ongoing
Promote expansion of affected areas &
recruiting additional resident participants
Landowners/Oregon Department of
Forestry, SBNFPP
Ongoing
Project Budget
Community Leaders
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant
Landowners
Partner 1
Partner 2
Total
Partner 3
Personnel
Technical Assisstance
ODF Match
Subtotal
$63,840
$0
$5,000
$0
$0
$68,840
$0
$205,000
$0
$0
$0
$205,000
$63,840
$205,000
$5,000
$0
$0
$273,840
$0
$0
$34,090
Fringe Benefits
OPE
$34,090
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$34,090
$0
$0
$0
$34,090
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$25,184
$0
$0
$0
$25,184
Garmin 76 GPS units (3)
$963
$0
$0
$0
$0
$963
Subtotal
$963
$25,184
$0
$0
$0
$26,147
$0
$2,500
$0
$0
$0
$2,500
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$2,500
$0
$0
$0
$2,500
$125,000
$0
$0
$125,000
$0
$250,000
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$125,000
$0
$125,000
$0
$250,000
Field Administration
$13,433
$0
$0
$0
$0
$13,433
Salem 6%(Prot+Financ)
$15,148
$0
$0
$0
$15,148
$28,581
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$28,581
$252,474
$232,684
$5,000
$125,000
$0
$615,158
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
$0
Subtotal
Travel
$0
Subtotal
Equipment
Vehicle/Cell Phone use
Supplies
Office Materials
Subtotal
Contractual
Landowner Cost Share
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.