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:
United Community Partners, Inc.
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
541-742-6189
541-742-6193
theshop@pinetel.com
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
35901 Valley View Lane, Halfway, OR 97834
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Mike Higgins, Program Manager
Organization/Jurisdiction:
United Community Partners, Inc.
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
541-742-6241
541-742-6241
Higgins@pinetel.com
Project Information
Project Title:
Pine and Eagle Valleys Interface Education, Fuels Assessment and Treatment
Project Start:
Project End:
September 1, 2003
October 1, 2006
Federal Funding Request:
Total Project Funding:
$68,000.00
$79,000.00
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:
No
Brief Project Description:
UCP requested grant monies in FY 2002 and received partial funding of that request. This
application is for the unfunded portion of that request and for the 10% administrative charge to
Oregon Department of Forestry, of which we were unaware at the original request. This project will
treat fuels on private lands in Pine and Eagle Valleys which intersperse with federally-managed
lands, and provide landowners education through a series of workshops and meetings discussing
fire danger and fire wise practices. The assessment done under the FY 2002 grant will be used to
identify and implement treatment opportunities on a cost-share basis to help fireproof residences
and acreages within the interface area. The educational workshops will be put on by United
Community Partners in cooperation with various partners. Fuels treatment will be done in 2003 and
2004, and 2005. 500 acres may be treated. This project will coordinate and enhance the Fuels
Treatment 2002.
Project Location:
County:
Congressional District:
Pine and Eagle valleys
Baker
2nd Congressional Distric
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:
Private interface lands and residences adjacent to federally-managed lands in the Pine and Eagle
Creek watersheds, located in northeast Oregon.
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
United Community Partners (UCP) is a nonprofit citizen's group formed to improve quality of life
for residents of northeast Oregon through environmental improvement and job creation. UCP would like to
undertake a comprehensive fuels assessment and treatment program in cooperation with valley residents and
partners US Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon State
University, Pine Eagle United Youth Fund, Pine Valley Recycling, and Pine and Eagle Valley Rural Fire
Departments.
The project area including Pine Valley, Eagle Valley, Cornucopia and Sparta is located in eastern Oregon,
approximately 45 miles from Baker City, Or. Incorporated areas are the cities of Halfway with a population
of 340 and Richland with a population of 150. An additional 1200 people live in the surrounding
unincorporated areas. The forest interface encompass approximately 11,000 private acres and about 70
homesites.
The valleys are surrounded by federally-managed lands, interspersed with private lands. This forest interface
is a major concern to valley residents and public land managers because of the threat of wildfire spreading
between the private and public lands. High risk areas identified in a 2002 study done for the Bureau of Land
Management by Dynamac Corporation, including the west and north interface of the Pine Creek watersheds
and the Sparta area of the Eagle Creek watersheds. Landowners are unaware of or are unable financially to
implement appropriate fire prevention measures.
United Community Partners, with help from valley residents and cooperating partners, proposes to undertake
a program to address this problem. The program would consist of three parts: resident education,
assessment and evaluation of the fuels present and fuels treatment. UCP has coordinated with Oregon
Department of Forestry and U.S. Forest Service to integrate this treatment proposal with their overall agency
treatment programs and will continue to coordinate with the agencies throughout the life of this project.
The expected results of this grant include an increased awareness by landowners of fire-wise practices, and
approximately 500 acres of private land treated, along with 50-70 home sites, leading to long-term healthy
sustainable forests, with reduced fire risk to local communities and forest habitat. This project will also
provide increased employment for valley residents.
Programs to raise the awareness of residents will be ongoing throughout the timeline of the project. As a
result of the monies received in FY 2002, assessment and evaluation of private lands and homes will begin in
July, 2002 and continue through September, 2003. Treatment using a combination of piling, chipping,
thinning, slashbuster, biomass removal or merricrusher will be done in June through November, 2003 and
2004. Monies received from the 2003 grant will be used to treat acres in addition to the acres treated with
2002 monies. Monitoring of the program will be done by the fuels/fire group through field trips to the
treatment areas during the field seasons of 2002-2005.
Response:
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: Through
a combination of increased public awareness, and treatments of those fuels, the risks of
wildfire in high hazard communities will be reduced. Fire resistant stands and fuel breaks in strategically
located areas will complement federal agency actions to treat conditions across the landscape. Because of the
reduced fuel loadings, the risks of wild fire and the risk to adjacent timber stands is lessened along with the
danger of a stand-replacement fire with the accompanying damage to wildlife, fish, soils and timber and
possible loss of homes and lives.A comprehensive plan to be used to prioritize treatment will be formed by
the fire and fuels group in cooperation with agency partners, rural fire departments, private landowners and
United Community Partners as a result of the 2002 grant funding. UCP, ODF and WWNF have held public
meetings concerning the National Fire Plan; these meetings will continue, along with additional educational
opportunities, such as newspaper articles, continued use of the Firewise program, and an annual clean-up day
to promote fire awareness and publicize opportunities for decreasing fire risk. Through years of fire
exclusion, stands in the interface have become loaded with excessive fuels, this program will treat those fuels
and restore stands to pre-settlement conditions. The local fire and fuels group, assisted by youth hired
through Pine Eagle United Youth Fund, will monitor success of treatments
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?
The treatment of stands is expected to create 3-4 seasonal jobs for 4 years. The monitoring portion
is expected to creat 2-3 seasonal jobs for 2 years. It is hoped that as part of that project, biomass will be used
to create products and jobs.
Response:
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: United
Community Partners has developed this proposal in conjunction with the BLM, USFS, ODF,
OSU, Pine and Eagle Valley Rural Fire Departments and private forest land owners to discuss fire and fuels
concerns and equipment needs. This level of cooperation will continue as this plan is implemented.
Treatment of stands will be done in cooperation with various agencies and contractors. Utilization of
materials generated by treatment will be done in conjunction with local agencies and the Pine Valley
Recyling Group.
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: United
Community Partners is an organization which represents the interests of valley members.
The organization was formed by valley residents concerned about the lack of cooperation in the valley for
improving and preserving opportunities to live and work in the valley. The organization has held information
meetings concerning the National Fire Plan in the fall and winter of 2001 in cooperation with agency partners.
Oregon Department of Forestry has done public outreach through its "Restoring Forest Health Strategy" plan.
The Bureau of Land Management contracted with Dynamac Corporation, to do outreach and gather input
from area residents. Their draft report, "Wildland-Urban-Interface, Communities at Risk Mitigations
Recommendation" was used to help form this proposal. A watershed assessment plan has been done on Pine
Creek which addresses fuels concerns.
Landowners have agreed to cost-sharing labor to complete assessments and treatment of fuels on their lands.
Homes adjacent to the forest interface will be made more fire defensible, surrounded by fire resistant stands
and fuel breaks which are strategically placed to complement the fuels treatments on adjacent federal lands.
This will reduce the chance of catastrophic fires moving between public and private lands
Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form
Tasks
Mitigation (fuels treatment on home sites and
interface acres)
Monitoring
,
Time Frame
September 1, 2003 - November 1, 2005
October 1, 2003 - November 1, 2006
Responsible Party
Landowners, United Community
Partners, Oregon Department of
Forestry, U.S. Forest Service, Pine
and Eagle Valley Rural Fire
Departments, local contractors
Landowners, United Community
Partners, Oregon Department of
Forestry, U.S. Forest Service, Pine
and Eagle Valley Rural Fire
Departments,Bureau of Land
Management, local fire/fuels group
Enclosure 3D Project Budget
Cost Category
Description
Federal
Agency
Applicant
Partner 1
Partner 2
Total
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$9,000.00
$9,000.00
$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
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$70,000.00
$0.00
$70,000.00
Personnel
Monitoring
Subtotal
$8,000.00
$8,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$1,000.00
$1,000.00
Fringe Benefits
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Travel
Monitoring
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Equipment
$0.00
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Supplies
Subtotal
$0.00
Contractual
Mitigation
$60,000.00
Subtotal
$60,000.00
$0.00
$0.00
$10,000.00
$0.00
$10,000.00
Other
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Total Costs
$68,000.00
$0.00
$11,000.00
$0.00
$79,000.00
Project (Program) Income1
(using deductive alternative)
1
$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.