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:
Email:
503.945.7341
503.945.7454
Sboro@odf.state.or.us
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
2600 State Street, Salem, Oregon 97310
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Jim Wolf, Prevention Planner
Organization/Jurisdiction:
Oregon Department of Forestry, Southwest Oregon District
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
541.664.3328
541.776.6184
jwolf@odf.state.or.us
Project Information
Project Title:
Jackson & Josephine Counties Strategic WUI Fuel Reduction Project
Proposed Project Start Date:
Proposed Project End Date:
October 1, 2003
December 30, 2006
Federal Funding Request:
Total Project Funding:
$245,000
$311,000
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:
Yes – Priority # 4 in Fuels Treatment Category
Brief Project Description:
This project would provide a financial incentive/assistance for private land owners in Jackson & Josephine
Counties to become more involved in fire and forest health issues by collaborating with neighbors in fuel
reduction efforts. Private landowners would particularly be encouraged to plan fuel hazard reduction work
with federal agency neighbors, sharing in discussions of prescriptions and implementation methods for work
along the shared ownership property lines. A minimum of a 300-foot buffer or five acres per landowner is
recommended, in an effort to create more strategic fuel breaks across our high-risk Wildland Urban Interface
areas. This grant is an implementation mechanism of the Applegate Fire Plan (AFP) and several other
community fire plans, and is requested as a partner to very successful landowner defensible space rebates. All
participants in this new grant rebate program would be required to have successfully accomplished a
defensible space around their homes prior to planning work on additional acreage. Outreach for this type of
activity is funded via other mechanisms. This grant would cover costs to rebate the private landowner a flat
rate per acre; we anticipate funding nearly 20 miles of buffer through this project.
Project Location (latitude/longitude if applicable):
County:
Congressional District:
Jackson & Josephine Counties
Jackson & Josephine, OR
Oregon #2 & #4
Project Type: Check appropriate project type. More than one type may be checked. If only Box (4) is checked, use Enclosure 4.
(1) X 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:
Southwestern Oregon, Jackson & Josephine Counties. 17 Communities at Risk.
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, and 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





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
Response:
Location: This project would apply to interested private interface residents in Jackson & Josephine Counties,
an area of approx. 500,000 acres (47,000 acres of federal land within or within ¼ mile). The watersheds all
have a fire dependant ecosystem and the county experiences one of the highest occurrence of wildfires in the
state.
Relationship to existing plans: This project enhances and expands upon the several community fire plans*
(see below), by encouraging residents to work with neighbors on fuel hazard reduction. It becomes an
expansion of our past and current Community Fuel Reduction grants, which provide landowner rebate
programs for home survivable space. And, it will enhance compliance of State Senate Bill 360, due to be
implemented in Jackson County later this year.
Time Frame: From the time funding is available, winter 2003 through June 2006, or until funds are gone.
Implementation/Partners: This project will be implemented and administered by the Oregon Dept. of
Forestry. We are proposing to provide financial incentives to those private landowners who are interested in
planning and accomplishing fuel hazard reduction work on strategically located acres of their land. Our focus
will be on lands either bordering current federal land management projects or in areas deemed to be strategic
to fire management, as outlined in the community fire plans. All work would be within the WUI. Both the US
Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management fully support this joint approach to fuels management
and will actively work with private landowners on projects. Landowners would be encouraged to plan their
own work, so that a better understanding of fire issues is realized. ODF will inspect and approve all work
prior to landowner rebates. * Current community fire plans include the Applegate Fire Plan, Ashland Fire
Plan, and ongoing fire planning efforts by the Illinois Valley FAC, Sunny-Wolf CRT, Seven Basins
Watershed Council, and Friends of the Greensprings.
Because creating “defensible space” around private residences has proven to be the most important and
effective device for wildfire defense, all private landowners wanting to participate in this grant will be
required to have completed defensible space work around their homes prior to receiving additional rebates.
ODF will work with local fire districts to inspect and confirm home defensible space.
Outcomes: To reduce losses to property and surrounding forestland from wildfire, reduce fire starts through
landowner awareness and reduction of flammable vegetation, and to provide greater safety for landowners
and firefighters. By encouraging collaborative planning on a larger scale, we hope to increase residents’
consciousness of forest health issues in our watershed.
Amounts/Activities/Equipment: We are requesting funding to cover up to 600 acres or over 20 miles of 300’
buffer along joint property lines. Participating landowners have a choice of completing the work themselves
or hiring a contractor; in federal-partner projects the possibility of shared contracting exists. Mitigation
typically involves thinning and pruning of trees and brush either by hand or mechanically, depending upon
the aspect, slope and vegetation types. The waste is chipped, burned, used as firewood, or hauled to a
recycling center.
Income: None anticipated.
Environmental, cultural and historical resource requirements: No environmental, cultural or historical
resource requirements are anticipated in these areas.
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:
Two main concepts of the community fire plans are: to raise community awareness of fire and
forest health issues, and to promote collaboration between neighbors regarding fuel hazard reduction. This
fire plan energized residents, and is also being used by neighboring watersheds throughout southern Oregon
to begin their own fuel reduction programs. This 2004 proposed grant provides an incentive vehicle to
Jackson & Josephine Counties to work together on more and more joint fuel hazard reduction projects.
Recent grants have funded many landowners to mitigate hazardous fuels around homes. This snowballing
participation is increasing community knowledge and capacity of fire issues, an important first step toward
reducing fire risk and restoring a fire-adapted ecosystem. We now need to move further into the WUI, and
begin creating strategic and effective fuel breaks that could help firefighters manage a wildfire. With much of
the WUI a checker-boarded ownership pattern, projects that stress adjacent landowner collaboration are key.
Local federal land managers are committed to working with private landowners in collaborative fuel hazard
reduction planning where property lines adjoin. All values-at-risk will realize higher levels of protection from
wildfire as a result of this type of fuel reduction work. We need to encourage more and more private
landowners to participate, through incentive programs such as this grant.
A condition of the landowner rebate would be an agreement to maintain the fuel treatment area in the future.
Educational outreach will continue in Jackson & Josephine Counties, especially with the help of the regional
Firewise workshop being held here this year; many community leaders have already registered to attend.
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 other 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:
This project will encourage private landowners to develop their own plans for fuels reduction, and
many will choose to complete this fuel reduction work themselves. However, over the past several years of
heightened awareness of fire issues in southern Oregon, we have found that many local forest contractors are
very much in demand. Home defensible space work has generated very little thinned material to be utilized
off site, mainly due to the species and scattered nature of the work. However, by working on larger pieces at
a time, this may very likely change, especially considering the numbers of other local partners targeting
projects to utilize both biomass and small diameter materials. One community organization will be producing
a listing of local businesses that presently utilize small diameter materials and what raw products are used.
This will definitely be promoted throughout the area.
The community fire plans and the community’s active participation have provided a visible demonstration of
effective collaboration to other communities in the area and around the west. Our local federal land
management agencies are also being touted as leaders in fuels reduction techniques.
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:
This proposed grant incorporates an important concept of the Applegate Fire Plan and other
community fire plans, that of inter-agency collaboration with the public. Twenty-four agency partners
worked on and support the AFP, and the high level of cooperation among agencies and community members
is continuing as we work on the ground. Although this grant covers all of Jackson & Josephine Counties, the
collaborative efforts begun in the AFP have spread throughout southern Oregon, and a very real fire network
exists.
In this proposed WUI project, public organizations like the Applegate Partnership, Seven Basins Watershed
Council, Sunny-Wolf CRT, Illinois Valley FAC, and Friends of the Greensprings will spearhead outreach, to
link federal agencies with adjacent private landowners in fuel reduction planning. Watershed councils will
assist in monitoring of work completed and on-the-ground effects. Local fire departments and ODF will
verify a landowner’s defensible space completion prior to beginning new fuel reduction work. All partners
work together to provide continuing educational opportunities around fire-related issues; workshops, field
trips, newsletters and WebPages are among the mediums utilized. All of this is an effort to bring more and
more communities into the fire partnership.
Partnering in this project with ODF are: the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Forest Service, Rogue
and Siskiyou National Forests, Applegate Partnership, Applegate River Watershed Council, Williams Creek
Watershed Council, Applegate Valley Rural Fire District #9, and the community fire plan efforts listed
previously.
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:
This proposal was developed primarily with BLM, USFS, Applegate Fire Dist #9, REACH, the
Applegate Partnership, and two watershed councils. Concepts of the collaborative fuel reduction program
have been promoted primarily through a local newsletter, the Applegator, in local newspapers and meetings.
The communities of Jackson & Josephine Counties have embraced this idea wholeheartedly.
Due to the high cost of fuel reduction work in southern Oregon, landowners would be rebated a flat rate per
acre via this grant. Local fire chiefs have reported working with many landowners doing fuel reduction work
without requesting a financial rebate, suggesting that the funding be left for those who cannot complete the
work on their own. We will make every effort, through the help of local organizations, to help landowners not
able to perform or pay for their own work.
As stated above, the first step in restoring a fire-adapted ecosystem is to gain the understanding, acceptance,
and support of the local communities. We have experienced very little opposition to fuel hazard reduction
work to date. This new project will continue to increase the level of awareness among interface residents of
the challenges of true stewardship of the land, as it provides one-on-one education.
We anticipate a good amount of “in-kind” contribution from participating private landowners in several areas:
a portion of the fuel hazard reduction work will be borne by the landowner, participation in monitoring of the
work will be encouraged, and much time will be volunteered to provide input into the planning processes.
Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form
Tasks
Time Frame
Responsible Party
Consult with BLM and Forest Service
regarding the location of current and
planned work
Fall 2003 through June 2006
ODF, cooperators
Consult with community fire plan
groups to identify landowners to be
targeted for participation.
Fall 2003 through June 2006
Applegate Fire Plan
cooperators, Seven Basins
WSC, Sunny-Wolf CRT,
Illinois Valley FAC,
FOG,ODF
On-site consultation to generate site
plan, and cost share agreement
Fall 2003 through June 2006
ODF
Completion of individual projects
Fall 2003 through June 2006
Landowners/contractors
Final inspection of completed work
for approval.
Fall 2003 through June 2006
ODF
Rebate payment to landowner
Fall 2003 through June 2006
ODF
Prepare final project report
December 2006
ODF
Enclosure 3D Project Budget
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant:
ODF
Partner 1:
Partner 2:
Rural Fire Depts Private Landowners
Total
Personnel
29,895
Subtotal
29,895
29,895
Fringe Benefits
11,605
Subtotal
11,605
11,605
Travel
Subtotal
Equipment
Mileage
5,000
Subtotal
5,000
5,000
Supplies
500
Subtotal
500
500
Contractual
600 acres @$330/acre
rebate
198,000
66,000
Subtotal
198,000
66,000
264,000
$245,000
66,000
$311,000
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.