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: Rural Information Technology Center Phone: FAX: Email: 509/684-2588 509/684-9790 smeyer@ritc.org Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip): 463 W. 5th, Colville, WA 99114 Project Coordinator Project Coordinator (Name and Title): Al Kowitz, President Organization/Jurisdiction: Rural Information Technology Center Phone: FAX: Email: 509/684-2588 509/684-9790 akowitz@ritc.org Project Information Project Title: NE Washington Community Wildland/Urban Interface Mapping Project Start: Project End: July 1, 2002 June 30, 2003 Federal Funding Request: Total Project Funding: $170,000.00 $170,000.00 Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize: 1 project - multiple phases Brief Project Description: We propose combining GIS (Geographical Information Systems) fuel/fire layers for NE Washington and making them accessible to the community at large. Edge mapping between jurisdictions is a weak link when it comes to pre-attack planning in Wildland/Urban zones. By combining layers from participating agencies they will be able to identify high risk areas of mutual concern and plan joint projects. This data will be available to all agencies, including fire districts, 911, counties, cities, and individual community members. Agencies can receive the data in two formats. One is by CD rom, the other by visiting the community web site. The data will be available on the web site by an interactive mapping program called ArcIMS viewable with a web browser. With the CD rom files organizations will be able to utilize the information using the free version of ArcExp. Initially the three counties of Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille will be targeted. Future expansion would include Spokane, Lincoln, and Okanogan counties and eventually the entire state. Project Location: County: Congressional District: NE Washington Ferry, Stevens, Pend Orei 7th 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: The three counties: Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille. 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 This project will consist of multiple phases, each phase will produce a stand alone product that will be beneficial even if the next phase is delayed or not funded. Interagency involvement/partners: Rural Fire Districts, Ferry, Stevens and Pend Oreille Counties, governmental agencies (DNR, USFS, USFWS, BLM & BIA), Rural Information Technology Center (RITC), WSU Cooperative Extension - Stevens County, The Lands Council, and FireSafe Spokane. Response: Phase I: Contract a GIS consultant to design a solution for integrating existing data into a desirable format useable by all partners. The tasks performed by the consultant are listed below: 1. Document exactly what is needed by fire districts and other agencies for pre-attack planning in wildland/urban zones as well as large blocks of ownership. This includes data types and attributes, data retrieval, mapping requirements, etc. 2. Develop a priority for each need documented above so partners have an idea what to work with first. Also, if funding gets tight, it establishes which needs may not be completed. 3. Perform an assessment and document what data are currently available from cooperating partners. This will include 911 roads, vegetation types, and fuel types among others. 4. Develop and document data guidelines for acceptance into the combined project. This usually works out to be the lowest common denominator, since data providers usually have little or no time to upgrade data to a higher standard. Provide documentation to data providers on how their data needs to be changed before acceptance. 5. Determine and document the appropriate platform, software, licensing and costs for serving the data back out to agencies and the public. 6. Design and document data storage requirements. 7. Develop and document a project management plan for all cooperators. This includes tasks, products, and deadlines. 8. Develop and document data management procedures, including conversion (if necessary), loading, editing, and maintenance. 9. Produce all documents in an easy-to-follow format so others can reproduce the project. Phase II: The Rural Information Technology Center (RITC) will be the center for all data-related activities: retrieval, editing, compilation, and serving. All data and procedures defined in Phase I will be implemented and/or coordinated by RITC. RITC will create a dynamic internet-based map that can be viewed in a varitey of ways for community planning and interagency coordination. Their web-based mapserver (ArcIMS) will allow this information to be hosted on the World Wide Web, making it available to the community at large. Information that is not currently provided by agency GIS departments include a structure layer. GPSing the existing fire plans that were developed in the Suncrest area and Northern Ferry County has been identified as a desirable outcome. Adding a structure layer based on orotho photos is also a needed product that will assist in identifing Wildland/Urban areas. The deliverables for phase II would include the current 911 roads layer, all the identifed layers from phase I integretated into a web site, and the existing defensible space plans added to a data layer so that defensible spaces are readily identified. RITC's mission in this project is twofold: train and hire low-income individuals for GIS data entry and create an interagency GIS database with additional information like structure location for the three county region. Phase III: After completeing Phase I & II, review project and develop a plan to include data written by other agencies that have agreed to share that data. Any new plans written will be GPS'd based on the project design from Phase I. Develop fuels layers for non-federal lands that will integrate with existing agencies. 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: The project will coordinate interagency information sharing. This will shorten response time and enable local fire districts to respond to wildfire more quickly, lowering the risk to homeowners. Information will be available to Incident Management Teams during large fires and will provide a more efficient picture of an area for pre-attack planning, evacuation, and suppression activity. An integrated database that shows potential hazards and accurate maps without regard to jurisdiction boundaries does not exist and would be beneficial for Community Fire Planning. By managing information and making it consistent across all partners, rural communities will have the details necesary to design community treatment plans in high-risk areas. It will help agencies prioritize Fuels Reduction Treatments and coordinate with one another to implement treatments in any given drainage. It will also identify residential areas that need Defensible Space/Survivability treatments. Better coordination between adjoining rural fire districts will improve fire service response during other incidents besides Wildland Fire. This proposal was developed with the input of local Fire Departments, State and Federal agencies, as well as GIS consultants and two interested non-profit organizations. We will link the information gained by the fire planning and education that FireSafe Spokane, the Lands Council and other groups in the field have done. 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? Response: This integrated Wildland/Urban Interface map would become a tool for agencies to plan their seasonal jobs. People would be hired to implement fuels reduction projects. Federal, State and County entities will employ or keep employed people who are currently developing GIS layers for their mapping needs. RITC would put 2 to 3 data entry trainees to work part time (20 hrs/wk) for the duration of the project. Several independent contractors will be employed during the life of the project. The results of Phase I would be available as a template for other counties/communities. The finished project will be on the World Wide Web and available to planners and others seeking solutions to local concerns. 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: Historically agencies think and act based on their own jurisdiction. Having this information in one location will allow them to work together, considering what is best for the region as a whole. Community participation will be encouraged as agencies work in a given area. As you know, ecosystems do not stop at the property line, whether it is public or private. This project will increase interest in stewardship of all property regardless of ownership. This grant proposal came about by a joint meeting with Department of Natural Resources, USDA Forest Service, FireSafe Spokane, The Lands Council, WSU Cooperative Extension - Stevens County, and the Rural Information Technology Center. There has been a cooperative effort among those attending to bring this about from the beginning. There was also a meeting with some of the fire districts in the area, along with agency GIS departments and private consultants to help refine the scope of work. Various other agencies were contacted for letters of support: County Commissioners, County Planning Departments, Rural Fire Districts, 911 dispatch offices, Kalispel Tribe of Indians, Colville Tribe of Indians, Spokane & Lincoln Counties, Fish & Wildlife Service, City of Colville 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: Various Ferry, Stevens, and Pend Oreille county departments have been contacted to determine the interest and cooperation. The departments responded favorably with the initial contact, with a willingness to share their 911 roads layer. The final project will be available on a community website that will show the integration of the data layers. It could also include information about Firewise and how an individual could write their own plan by linking the community web site with FireWise Washington and other fire education sites. Sites such as the National Interagency Fire Center and the National Fire Plan can link with the community website. Workshops to extend implementation treatment going beyond the backyard are currently being conducted by WSU Cooperative Extension Forestry Department and will continue using this project as an additional resource for community members. Educational benefits include all agencies being able to compare data across a common database. Using the fuels layer, individuals will be able to visualize the impact the surrounding areas could have on their home, thus giving them an opportunity to plan. Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form Tasks Time Frame Responsible Party Phase I: Document what is needed by fire districts & agencies, develop priorities, perform an assessment, develop data guidelines, determine and document appropriate platform, design data storage, develop a project management plan & proceedures. Phase II: Compile data for initial editing and prep for trainees. 1 - 2 months GIS consultant 1 month Project Manager Phase II: Train or provide refresher course for RITC trainees to perform the digitizing. 1 week - 1 month RITC Trainer RITC Trainees Phase II: Digitize structure layer by using ortho photos. Integrate GIS layers into common database. Add GPS data as a layer. 6 - 9 months Project Manager RITC Trainees Phase II: GPS the areas that have defensible space plans written for them. 3 months Independent contractor Phase II: Develop the ArcIMS interface for the web: Preliminary analysis and design, construction of map services, construct queries, design and construction of client tools, design and construction of ASP server interface. 3 months Independent contractor Phase III: Review process and success of project to establish protocols for updating and sharing data. 1 month Independent contractor Enclosure 3D Project Budget Cost Category Description Federal Agency Personnel Admin Staff (See attch. 1a) Subtotal $12,500.00 $54,000.00 $66,500.00 Fringe Benefits Admin Staff (See attach. 1a) Subtotal $2,500.00 $10,800.00 $13,300.00 Travel Field $5,000.00 Subtotal $5,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Partner 1 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 Partner 2 Total $0.00 $0.00 $12,500.00 $54,000.00 $66,500.00 $0.00 $0.00 $2,500.00 $10,800.00 $13,300.00 $0.00 $0.00 $5,000.00 $0.00 $5,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $3,000.00 $0.00 $3,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $2,000.00 $1,000.00 $3,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $15,000.00 $60,600.00 $75,600.00 Equipment GPS Unit $3,000.00 Subtotal $3,000.00 Supplies Office Field Subtotal $2,000.00 $1,000.00 $3,000.00 Contractual Phase I Phase II & III (See 1b) Subtotal $15,000.00 $60,600.00 $75,600.00 Other Rent $3,600.00 Subtotal $3,600.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $3,600.00 $0.00 $3,600.00 Total Costs $170,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $170,000.00 Project (Program) Income1 (using deductive alternative) 1 Applicant $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $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.