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: The Lands Council Phone: FAX: Email: 509-838-4912 509-838-5155 tlc@landscouncil.org Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip): 921 West Sprague Avenue, Suite 205 , Spokane, WA 99201 Project Coordinator Project Coordinator (Name and Title): Mike Petersen, Executive Director Organization/Jurisdiction: The Lands Council Phone: FAX: Email: 509-838-4912 509-838-5155 mpeters@televar.com Project Information Project Title: Rural community wildfire protection & education program Project Start: Project End: October '02 expected Fourth quarter, 2003 Federal Funding Request: Total Project Funding: $35,000.00 $45,000.00 Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize: Yes, also submitting a startup program grant, this grant is our priority. Brief Project Description: To continue and expand our ongoing Wildfire Education Program that was developed through a grant awarded in 2001. The program involves hosting free defensible space workshops, providing free defensible space planning for rural homeowners, providing free educational material on defensible space, fire-resistive building materials and landscaping, and collaborating with other agencies (federal, state and county) and organizations to promote rural community wildfire protection in northeast Washington. In addition, we plan to continue to collaborate in an effort to collect high-quality information through fire planning useful to fire protection efforts and future GIS mapping as well as expand our outreach program to schools, realtors and community organizations and an additional county (Ferry). Project Location: County: Congressional District: Northeast Washington State see below WA-5th 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: Rural communitites in northeastern Washington, including Pend Oreille, Stevens & Ferry Counties. 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 In 2001, we submitted a grant proposal to work in northeast Washington to assist rural communities with reducing wildfire risks, both through education and technical planning assistance. Since receiving that grant, we have provided workshops in rural communitites on 'defensible space', we have advertised free defensible space planning through newspapers, radio stations, county mailings and door-to-door rural outreach and we have begun to write 'Home Survivability Plans' to develop defensible space around homes in these areas. In addition, we have developed educational handouts on what defensible space is and why it works, what types of roofing, decking and window construction materials are 'fire-resistive' and how to landscape with 'fire-resistive' plant species in the inland northwest. We continue to collaborate with other agencies and organzations in efforts to promote defensible space and the work associated with it. We've developed a list serve to facilitate information-sharing among key players in this work and assist in promoting other opportunitites available to homeowners, such as the DNR's Firewise workshops. Finally, we are collecting information (GPS latitude & longitude, access concerns, etc.) while writing fire plans to distribute to rural fire districts and other agencies with an interest in compiling information for urban interface areas. We anticipate that the current grant will allow us to continue to work until into late summer, 2002. The success of the program and homeowner satisfaction are dependent on two things; 1st, our ability to secure implementation assistance for the fire plans we are writing and our ability to fund this Wildfire Education Program beyond the summer of this year. We are working with the DNR and FireSafe Spokane to arrange a means of insuring implementation assistance to recipients of our fire plans. Presently, there is an agreement to allow another entity to implement our fire plans with appropriate funding sources. We have made great efforts to parallel the quality and methods of our fire planning with that being done by FireSafe Spokane and others in order to insure consistency and implementation. Because of the size of the area being covered, this work is needed to access rural homeowners for at least a period of several years. Our Wildfire Education Program has the capability and potential to succeed in this as evidenced by the current success of our program and the inroads we have made into these rural areas. Current outreach efforts that have shown the highest success rate include personal contact and personal mailings. While this takes time, it results in a higher level of education for the homeowner and builds trust for our efforts within these small, tight-knit communities. Our program is based on the belief that by taking personal responsibility for private property, together we can create fire-adapted communities that have the ability to survive wildfire. Communities that are better prepared for fires also offer a safer and more effective working environment for firefighters. With the protection of private property and communities, public land managers can then make better decisions about wild- and prescribed fire on public lands, providing the opportunity to save money in firefighting costs and do a better job in restoring the health of public lands. This grant application proposes to continue with the work described above within the same counties (Stevens and Pend Oreille) and one additional county (Ferry). We anticipate hosting defensible space workshops again in the spring, as well as continuing our outreach, fire planning and whatever means are necessary to make the program successful. 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: The program reduces wildfire risks to private property because it involves defensible space planning and education in high risk areas and wildland/urban interface communities. Outreach target areas are selected based on their proximity to forested areas and include interface lands specifically recommended by the FS for fuels reduction. Through the program, we are increasing the safety of defending these homes in a wildfire situation as well as reducing the risk of fire spreading from or onto adjacent federal and non-federal lands. Community safety is enhanced as more and more homes within a similar area create defensible space. Our door-to-door efforts allow us to access rural & low-income homeowners that otherwise may not have exposure to this assistance. Our outreach efforts also allow us to assess communitities for their hazard and prioritize our efforts. Community fire planning is encouraged in every housecall that we make and every fire plan we write. We encourage homeowners to speak with their neighbors and homeowner associations to spread the word and request community action. By creating survivable communitites, local public land managers should have more flexibility to utilize restoration means for restoring fire-adapted ecosystems, such as prescribed fire. In addition, these areas provide fuel breaks and reduce fuels in areas adjacent to larger tracts of fire-adapted forests. Upon implementation, landowners agree to 10 years of maintenance. 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: The local economy is positively affected by our program because we are creating work through our fire planning. Implementation of these plans will likely be done through another entity, but one which has already specified interest in utilizing local contractors and crews for the vegetation modification work. Each plan takes approximately 1/2 -1 day to implement for a seasonal crew. It is quite possible that we may succeed in writing hundreds of plans through our program. In addition, our progam creates 1 & 1/2 yearround jobs as a fire planner/educator and grant administration. Indirectly, our educational efforts may result in homeowners hiring their own local contractors to do this type of work independently of this program. As far as a model for other communitites, we hope to participate in 'show-me' tours for other communities and are pursuing media coverage of our area and program to encourage similar efforts in other states.Forest fuels on private property will be utilized and removed, as much as necessary to create an adequate zone of defensible space. Fuels are either removed, utilized as firewood or chipped and scattered during plan implementation. Some homeowners may choose to pile and burn fuels on their own. 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: The program is based on fuels reduction planning and education in rural communitites as described in the National Fire Plan (NFP). In addition, our planning methods are consistent with other NFP efforts in NE Washington, such as FireSafe Spokane. Our education program utilizes federal and state science & information including research done by Jack Cohen and the Pacific Wildfire Coordinating Group. We coordinate with other "rural fire protection efforts" in northeastern Washington by maintaining a level of consistency in planning methods and through regular communication. The information we collect through our outreach and education efforts is also valuable to rural fire districts and we have been involved in an ongoing cooperative effort to share information and collection protocols. We have refined the geographic scope and data set collection through meetings with the WA Dept. of Natural Resources, Forest Service, FireSafe Spokane, Wash. State University, and the Rural Information Technology Center. We will link the information gained in fire planning and education into the database being developed by WSU. This will include establishing and using inventory protocols for future Defensible Space plans. Our proposal requests an additional $5,000 to collect GPS location info. at all residences needing defensible space, rather than just those we write fire plans for. We will continue to collect other information that Fire Districts, county, state and federal agencies have deemed useful in fire protection efforts . 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: Workshops are advertised through the paper and via a county-wide mailing, making them available to everyone within the counties we work in. Our door-to-door contacts also provide an opportunity for people who were missed in the mailing, unable to attend the workshop or with questions about the program. Support for the program has been large, both from agency personnel and members of the public. We have collaborated on our workshops with Conservation Districts, DNR, FS and FireSafe Spokane. Rural Fire District volunteers continue to show support for our work as it makes their job easier and safer. Environmental benefits include a shift in public perception of fire and public land management, fuels reduction in areas of high risk and better planning with regards to rural development and sprawl. Social benefits include protection of homes, lives, neighborhoods, community participation and more efficient financial planning and spending. Educational benefits include opportunitites to learn about how fire spreads, what types of fuels are most risky, fire ecology and what it means to live in rural areas within the forest. Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form Tasks Time Frame Responsible Party Rural community outreach (door-to-door) contacts in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties 07/02-11/03 The Lands Council Fire planning (development of 'Home Survivability Plans') for defensible space in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry counties. 07/02-11/03 The Lands Council School presentations re: defensible space and fire ecology in Pend Oreille, Stevens and Ferry county schools. 10/02-06/03 The Lands Council Outreach to rural fire districts in counties for potential cooperative neighborhood planning and general outreach re: defensible space planning opportunitites. 07/02-11/03 The Lands Council Continue to participate in interagency/organizational efforts to collaborate fire protection efforts in rural areas of northeastern Washington. 07/02-11/03 The Lands Council Continue to collect GPS location information as well as access information for other grants and for rural Fire Districts. Distribute data to Fire Districts periodically for them to update their own databases with. 07/02-11/03 The Lands Council Facilitate implementation of 'Home Survivability Plans' with the Washington State DNR and FireSafe Spokane. 07/02-11/03 The Lands Council Report to Forest Service As needed The Lands Council Enclosure 3D Project Budget Cost Category Description Federal Agency Applicant Personnel $7,500.00 $5,000.00 Subtotal $7,500.00 $5,000.00 Fringe Benefits $0.00 $0.00 Subtotal $0.00 $0.00 Travel $1,000.00 $0.00 Subtotal $1,000.00 $0.00 Equipment $0.00 $0.00 Subtotal $0.00 $0.00 Supplies $0.00 $0.00 Subtotal $0.00 $0.00 Contractual $21,500.00 $5,000.00 Subtotal $21,500.00 $5,000.00 Other $5,000.00 $0.00 Subtotal $5,000.00 $0.00 Total Costs $35,000.00 $10,000.00 Project (Program) Income1 (using deductive alternative) 1 Partner 1 Partner 2 Total $0.00 $12,500.00 $0.00 $0.00 $12,500.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $1,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $1,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $0.00 $26,500.00 $0.00 $0.00 $26,500.00 $0.00 $0.00 $5,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $5,000.00 $0.00 $0.00 $45,000.00 $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.