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:
Oregon Department of Forestry
Phone:
FAX:
503.945.7341
503.945.7454
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
2600 State St. Salem, Oregon 97310
Email:
Sboro@odf.state.or.us
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Timothy R. Keith, District Forester
Organization/Jurisdiction:
Oregon Department of Forestry; Northeast Oregon District
Phone:
FAX:
541.963.3168
541.962.1058
Email:
tkeith@odf.state.or.us
Project Information
Project Title: “
I’m Concerned about Wildfires” in Northeast Oregon campaign
Proposed Project Start Date:
Proposed Project End Date:
December 2003
October 31, 2006
Federal Funding Request:
$257,500
Total Project Funding:
$355,500
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:.
Yes – Priority # 2 in Prevention Category
Brief Project Description:
Funding for eight personnel and materials/supplies from the “I’m Concerned about Wildfires” campaign to
develop and deliver education programs, advertising campaigns and mass mailings to the public living and
working in and around Wildland Urban Interface Areas in northeast Oregon as listed on the Federal Register.
(Three year implementation period) Personnel will be divided into two-person Fire Prevention Teams that
will inform target audiences (landowners, homeowners, recreationists and primary school students) about the
wildland-urban interface problem in Union, Wallowa, Baker and Umatilla counties and how to mitigate the
risk of fire by increasing fire awareness. The fire prevention teams will educate these people on Firewise
landscaping, how to make their homes and property “FireFree” and how to recreate safely in and around
urban interface areas. Mass mailings to the hunting public (over 20,000 per year) will allow prevention
messages to get to each and every tag holder informing them of specific fire dangers and current Public Use
Restrictions in place. The goal is to instill a sense of fire awareness not yet realized in this region.
Project Location (latitude/longitude if applicable):
County:
Congressional District:
Northeast Oregon District: ODF
Wallowa, Union, Umatilla, Baker
2 (Two)
Project Type: Check appropriate project type. More than one type may be checked. If only Box (4) is checked, use Enclosure 4.
(1)
Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Project
(2)  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
 interagency partners
Response:





project relationship to community or natural landscape fire plans
project time frames and income
specify types of activities and equipment used
amount or extent of actions (acres, number of homes, etc)
environmental, cultural and historical resource requirements
Project Location: Northeast Oregon (Baker, Umatilla, Union and Wallowa Counties) is a region of
the state that has a fire dependent ecosystem, a history of severe fire, heavy fuel loading, and many of its
communities have been listed as being at risk of wildfire in the Federal Register. Additionally, these
communities are adjacent to, surrounded by or are near federal forestlands, National Park Service lands, BLM
lands, tribal reservations or other Native American ownerships. The Northeast Oregon District has fire
protection responsibilities for over 1.5 million acres of private timber and grazing land and in addition share
administration of cooperative fire protection agreements with tribal reservations and other Native American
ownerships. Project Implementation: This project will be implemented by the Oregon Department of
Forestry, Northeast Oregon District through its four field units in each respective county through local
coordination groups over a three-year implementation period. Anticipated outcomes: Once members of the
target groups become familiarized with the dangers of fire through the “I’m Concerned…” campaign, they
will modify their current behavior and begin to actively work to implement measures that will reduce the risk
of fire damage in urban interface areas. Measures and Reporting: These programs will inform landowners,
homeowners and forest recreation audiences on how to mitigate the risk of fire by increasing fire awareness
and reducing human-caused fire starts. They will learn acceptable fire mitigation standards and practices
within forested and wildland-urban interface areas that will result in reduced fire damage risk to these areas,
natural resources, and the threat to human life. Human-caused fire starts over the three-year implementation
period will be compared to the past 10 year statistics to measure success. Interagency Partners: Schools in
each respective county, rural and city fire departments, Wallowa-Whitman NF, Umatilla NF, Malheur NF,
Umatilla Indian Reservation (BIA), Nez Perce Precious Lands, Department of Emergency Services, Office of
State Fire Marshal among others. Approximately 5-6 million acres of prevention activity will be realized with
this campaign. Project Relationship: The citizens of Northeast Oregon are concerned about wildfires. With
severely suppressed economies, a devastating wildfire would be detrimental to local economies. Community
involvement and support is projected to be high based on success of National Fire Plan projects (Fuels
Reduction) and prevention projects thus far. Project Time Frames/Income: The project will have a three-year
implementation period. Interagency partners will contribute with in-kind contributions. Activities/Equipment
Used: This project will provide the materials and equipment needed to develop and deliver professional,
coordinated, multifaceted awareness and education programs centered around the “I’m Concerned About
Wildfires” campaign annually to 1500 primary school students within NE Oregon school districts outdoor
schools and summer camps. Funding will be used to offset costs associated with an aggressive newspaper
advertisement campaign, postage/mailing expenses for prevention newsletters to recreationists, sign
fabrication and procurement of prevention materials. Amount or Extent of Actions: 25% of the 1.5 million
acres NEO protects are either in urban interface areas or in close proximity to them. It is estimated that over
2500 homes are affected. With our partners, 5-6 million acres of forestland will benefit by the campaign.
Environmental, cultural, historical resource requirements: None. This is purely a prevention/education
campaign. Urgency: Extremely high! This project will be conducted in an area having an extensive wildlandurban interface, a fire dependent ecosystem, an increase in human-caused fire starts and a history of recent
catastrophic interface fires. Connection to the National Fire Plan: Communities in the project areas are
surrounded by or are adjacent to lands managed by the BLM, BIA, Nez Perce Precious Lands, Nature
Conservancy, NPS and the USFS. Additional structures and communities are within one burning period of
such federal lands. Fires involving these structures and communities threaten federal lands and fires on
federal lands threaten these structures and communities. This campaign would complement the National Fire
Plan projects we are currently involved in within the Northeast Oregon District.
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, or natural landscapes.
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 (1) fuels treatment plan or (2) 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 (1) leads to, enhances or restores a local fire-adapted ecosystem, and/or (2) mitigates or leads to the
mitigation of hazardous fuel conditions.
F. How will the proposed treatments or programs be maintained in future years?
Response: (A)Reduction of risk and mitigation of hazardous fuel conditions: These programs will inform
target audiences about wildland-urban interface problems and inform them of practices that increase fire
awareness, reduce human-caused fire starts, reduce fuels and develop survivable space around structures and
communities. They will learn what standards are necessary and should be applied to wildland-urban interface
areas in order to reduce the risk of fire damage to structures and the threat to human life. The completion of
mitigation work will result in an improvement of survivable space around individual homes and communities
and will result in an immediate reduction in the risk of fire. These communities are adjacent to, surrounded by
or are near federal forestlands. (B)Benefits to resources and protection of community safety: The reduction in
the overall numbers, size and extent of damage caused by fires, will result in improved fire protection for
individual structures, communities as a whole, watersheds, wildlife and all other values at risk from
uncontrolled fire. (C&D)Creation of a cooperative community fire strategy/education program: FIREWISE,
Living With Fire and other workshops have been held in the region to enhance exposure to the problem. The
“I’m Concerned about Wildfires” campaign will target specific user-groups/forest users that have contributed
to human-caused fires in the past. The campaign will focus on specific human-caused fire starts that take
place in the region. (E) This educational campaign will create the awareness needed for living within a fireprone ecosystem as well as directly leading participants into exploring cost-share programs we offer in the
way of fuels mitigation. (F) Maintenance: Through this campaign, awareness of the problem associated with
the fire environment and practices that mitigate these problems will be sent that reinforces the need to protect
human life and natural resources. This will be continued long into the future.
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)? How will this proposal link to toher projects (or proposed projects) to create year-round jobs?
B. To what extent will this project be offered to serve as a model for other communities or natural landscapes?
C. Will biomass or forest fuels be utilized; if so, in what manner and how much?
Response: (A)Local job influence: This project will directly create new jobs with the initial eight seasonal
full-time personnel. When purchasing the materials (stickers, hats, t-shirts), advertising, and supplies, local
sources will always be utilized mailings. Eight (8) full-time seasonal summer jobs will be created through
this project. These new jobs will help support the local economy over the three-year implementation period.
New business opportunities and jobs may be drawn to the individual communities and to the region as a
whole. (B)Community Model: With increased awareness of the wildland-urban interface situation, behavioral
modifications and resulting subsequent fire mitigation practices, the community will benefit as a whole from
an enhanced level of protection and personal safety in Northeast Oregon District. This will serve as a model
to adjacent communities to enhance their partnership in this fire prevention endeavor. This project will result
in measurable products rather than the creation of a plan or strategy. A reduction in the risk of fire damage
and the improvement of personal safety will result in an overall improvement to the stability of the counties
and therefore be of benefit to the local economies. (C)Biomass Utilization: Not directly applicable, however,
we would educate communities in understanding what biomass is, how it can be utilized, and explain their
options to utilize biomass.
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 or plan, or creates such a plan. Describe the plan if it
already exists.
B. Explain the level of cooperation, coordination or strategic planning through a “Local Coordination Group” for wildland fire
activities, or among federal, state, tribal, local government and community organizations. List the cooperators (a detailed list
of cooperators will be required for projects that are funded).
Response:
(A)Local Strategy/Plan: Local cooperation will be sought and incorporated into the overall management of
the project. Due to the area being a fire prone ecosystem with short fire-return intervals, the communities and
interagency partners in NE Oregon are concerned about human-caused fire starts. The plan is to focus the
“I’m Concerned…” campaign in the area of most concern (based on most prevalent human-caused fires). By
targeting specific user groups (hunters with campfires, landowners who burn debris, off-road vehicle users,
etc.), we will reduce fire starts in our, historically, most damaging areas. Personnel from interagency partners
will be used to provide needed technical expertise to those designing and delivering the programs to be
developed with the supplies and equipment obtained through this project. (B) Local Coordination
Groups/Project partners: Each county will form a local coordination group in order to come up with a
collective plan that will be of most benefit to all agencies as a whole. Partners include, but are not limited to,
landowners, homeowner associations, rural and city fire departments, US Forest Service, Bureau of Land
Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Umatilla Indian Reservation, Nez Perce Precious Lands, National
Park Service, Oregon State Parks, Oregon Department of Forestry, non-profit organizations, OSU Extension
Service, Department of Emergency Services, Office of State Fire Marshal, Oregon Department of Fish and
Wildlife, and local education districts.
4. Expanding Community Participation. (15 Points)
A. To what extent have interested individuals, groups, and communities been provided an opportunity to become informed and
involved in this proposal?
B. Describe the extent of local support or opposition for the project, including any cost-sharing arrangements.
C. What are the environmental, social and educational benefits or concerns of the project?
Response: (A) Outreach to interested parties and their support: The entire purpose of this project is to reach
out to interested parties, including local youth, and gain their fire prevention support. As a state agency, the
Oregon Department of Forestry is bound by law, policy and tradition to afford all interested and qualified
individuals/organizations with equal access/participation in programs or projects that may be of benefit to
them. To aid in this effort, a news release will be issued to inform the general public about the existence of
this project. The campaign will be advertised a minimum of 15 weeks per summer in local newspapers along
with coordinated news releases pertinent to local conditions. School visits, school fairs/carnivals, parades and
organized meetings will encompass those wishing to be informed. (B) Local support/cost-sharing: The
Oregon Department of Forestry, Northeast Oregon District, and other partners will contribute approximately
25% of the project funds through in-kind contributions. The citizens of northeast Oregon are concerned about
wildfires. With severely suppressed economies, a devastating wildfire would be detrimental to the
communities. In that regard, community involvement and support is projected to be high. Community support
for past National Fire Plan projects (fuels reduction) and prevention projects has been enthusiastically
supported. (C)Benefits: Through the benefits of education, fire reduction in the overall numbers, size and
damage from humans will result. This project will improve fire protection for individual structures, whole
communities, watersheds, wildlife and all other values at risk from uncontrolled fire. These programs will
inform target audiences about the wildland-urban interface problem and how to mitigate the risk of fire by
increasing fire awareness, reducing human-caused fire starts, reducing fuels and developing survivable space
around structures and communities.
Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form
Tasks
Time Frame
Responsible Party
Develop Project Action Plan
December 2003
Oregon Department of
Forestry: Northeast Oregon
District and Local
Coordination Group
Determine education supplies and
equipment to be obtained
Per project action plan
Per project action plan
Obtain education supplies and
equipment
Per project action plan
Per project action plan
Perform education programs to
interested individuals, landowners,
homeowner associations, local youth
and others. Local newspaper
advertisements. Mass mailings to
target groups of forest users with
personalized prevention messages
March 2004 through October 2006
Per project action plan
Enclosure 3D Project Budget
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant
USFS
Misc Others
Total
Personnel
110,140
13,986
5,000
5,000
47,360
6,014
53,374
48,000
48,000
134,126
Subtotal
Fringe Benefits
Subtotal
Travel
Use of ODF vehicle
Subtotal
Equipment
Materials needed to support
campaign
Subtotal
Supplies
Advertising, mass mailings,
Etc…
Subtotal
25,000
3,000
1,000
1,000
30,000
75,000
10,000
2,500
2,500
90,000
$257,500
$81,000
$8,500
$8,500
$355,500
Contractual
Subtotal
Other
Subtotal
Total Costs
Project (Program) Income1
(using deductive alternative)
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.