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:
Sunny Wolf Community Response Team
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
541-866-2600
541-866-2449
swcrt@echoweb.net
Address (Street or P. O. Box, City, State, Zip):
P.O. Box 127, Wolf Creek, OR 97497
Project Coordinator
Project Coordinator (Name and Title):
Jaddua Ross, Project Coordinator
Organization/Jurisdiction:
Sunny Wolf Community Response Team
Phone:
FAX:
Email:
541-866-2600
541-866-2449
swcrt@echoweb.net
Project Information
Project Title:
Sunny Wolf Fuel Hazard Reduction and Small Diameter Utilization Pilot Project
Project Start:
Project End:
July 1, 2002
December 31, 2003
Federal Funding Request:
Total Project Funding:
$121,600
$152,000
Are you submitting multiple projects? If so, please explain and prioritize:
No.
Brief Project Description:
This multifaceted project in the northern poriton of the Josephine County Rural Enterprise
Community establishes the local manufacture and marketing of a line of “value-added” end
products using small diameter timber and other materials gleaned from fire hazard reduction
activities performed on federal and private lands by trained local work crews. Ultimately, this project
is self-sustaining and ongoing, providing: at least five full-time and one part-time positions to an
economically depressed rural area; a reduction in fire hazard to northern Josephine County, which
has a high fire risk rating; a pilot program that demonstrates use and market vitality of small
diameter wood in the production of precision fence rail, deck railing, dowels, and other materials; an
increase in interagency coordination; and fund administrative costs and equipment investments for
value-added manufacture from small diamater byproducts of fuel hazard reduction and other forest
health treatments. Public and private partners include local fire departments, local landowners,
businesses, county, state, and federal agencies.
Project Location:
County:
Congressional District:
Sunny Valley & Wolf Creek
OR
Josephine
4
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
x Wildland Urban Interface Education and Prevention Project
(3) x
(4) x
Community Planning for Fire Protection Project
Fuels Utilization and Marketing Project
If the applicant is an unincorporated area, define the geographic area being represented:
T33S R5,6,7W south of the Douglas Co. line, T33S R5,6,7W (includes Wolf Creek & Sunny Valley)
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
The rural communities of Wolf Creek and Sunny Valley (total population under 2000), lying within
the O&C checkerboard ownership of northern Josephine County, are considered economically depressed due
to loss of timber harvest-related jobs in the past decade. Due to rainfall shortages the past two years, and
accumulations of fuels in past decades, northern Josephine Co. has a high fire risk rating with county, state,
and federal agencies. This project would provide fire hazard mitigation to 4 communities in an area with
40,320 acres of private land in the O & C checkerboard of 115,200 acres in northern Josephine Co. (65%
federal lands), covering 16 tracts with 38,000 parcels/tax lots.
We propose to improve local economic and environmental conditions by: 1) using our community fire
planning education and assessments to identify high-risk areas and landowners needing hazard reduction
treatments; 2) performing market research and product development for manufacture of value-added products
from small diameter trees (Economic Action Programs), creating a business plan; 3) subsidizing the lease of a
yarder and operator for three months; purchasing a portable sawmill and other equipment to handle small
diameter wood to produce material to manufacture with, and biomass; equipping, hiring, training, and
subsidizing for three months a crew that would handle both forest treatment and field processing (Economic
Action Program Pilot Projects), thus providing fire hazard mitigation treatments on federal and private lands;
interfacing with local partners and businesses to address a market opportunity for utilizing small diameter
wood, providing further business opportunities to the local economic community.
This project will be implemented by the Sunny Wolf Community Response Team (SWCRT) in cooperation with our partners: Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), Josephine Co. Soil & Water Conservation
District (JoCoSWCD), Josephine Co. Economic Development, Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District
(RFPD), Oregon Regional Investment Fund, and U.S.D.I. BLM. Private landowners will be identified
through our planning project, the North Valley Community Fire Plan (a national fire plan funded project) in
cooperation with the JoCoSWCD. Our active partners in the NVCFP are: Josephine Co. Fire Defense Board,
Rural Metro Fire Dept., ODF, Wolf Creek Rural Fire Protection District, Josephine Co. Planning Dept, and
U.S.D.A Forest Service (USFS). The affected communities are currently involved in a fire hazard and
property assessment education program through the NFCVP. The Medford District BLM has NEPA cleared
land ready for immediate fire hazard mitigation and small diameter thinning treatments.
Our anticipated outcomes are: A line of products to be made from the small diameter wood by-products of
fuels reduction and forest health treatments; 5 to 10 persons employed at sustainable forest treatments and
material recovery for at least 10 years; the development of a viable business opportunity for small diameter
wood products; subsidizing the reduction of fire hazards by demonstrating the economically viable use of
small diameter wood. This project is also aimed at strengthening partnerships with public resource agencies
and streamlining the accessibility to fiber material on federal property. Further, this demo project will serve
as a model for other communities in their needs to reduce fuel loading and expand/develop markets for wood
products by utilizing traditionally underutilized wood. We will reinvest the net proceeds by purchasing
equipment to manufacture economically viable, value-added products locally from small diameter material.
Specifically, the five-person crew would be performing fuels mitigation treatment with chain-saws and a
yarder, processing materials on-site with a portable saw-mill, and delivering them to a local partner, with a
potential to generate biomass to be sold as woodchips. The income from this project is expected to be selfsustaining within the first three months, and to double its employees and fund equipment investments for
value-added manufacture from small diameter by-products, fuel hazard reduction, and other forest health
treatments within the two years. Reporting will track and compare greenwood vs. refined products, manpower
costs per types of work for both treatment and material extrication, volume of acres and materials processed.
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: This
project will demonstrate the economics of fire risk reduction treatments in northern Josephine
County. Harvest cost for small material used in the chip/pulp market are generally too high (including transportation costs) to generate profits. With this demonstration project it is anticipated that the increased value
for small diameter logs should be of equal or greater value to harvest costs. It will contribute to short and
long-term risk reduction by providing a workforce to perform fuel hazard mitigation and forest health treatments, and by creating a user market for cut woody materials (including manufactured products, chip biomass, firewood, and electricity cogeneration), which have traditionally had no market, requiring further
(usually costly burning) treatment in the field. Biomass would be removed for utilization at a rate of 2-5 mbf
per week. The project would serve 4 communities in an area with 40,320 acres of private land in the O&C
checkerboard of 115,200 acres in northern Josephine County, (65% federal lands), covering 16 tracts with
38,000 parcels/tax lots. BLM has set aside NEPA cleared small diameter stands in this are for thinning to
recover small diameter wood, and is well into an environmental assessment for fire hazard reduction in the
Grave Creek watershed at this time. Public applications for risk assessment and treatment on private lands
has already started with our partners in NVCFP -ODF, county, fire departments. Obtaining land use permits
and contractor agreements are contingent upon receipt of funding. The community is already involved in a
qualified fuels education program through the North Valley Community Fire Plan. This project is ultimately
self-sustaining, providing ongoing fire hazard reduction treatments. Small diameter utilization is a benchmark of the community-created SWCRT Strategic Plan for resource management & economic development.
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
project will immediately put 6 people to work at: four full-time entry level positions, one fulltime supervisory position, and one part-time bookkeeping position. By the end of the project it is expected to
provide an additional five entry-level positions. Collectively this project will provide 10 or more local jobs
lasting a minimum of 10 years, and is expected to provide twice that many within the first four years. All
these positions would be year-round by means of fire safety equipment rental during the fire season. Overall
project design and completion can be used as a model of an economically, socially, and environmentally
integrated program benefitting forest health at a landscape level. Specifically, this project would demonstrate
the economic viability of marketing small diameter wood as a sustainable means of funding fire hazard
reduction while providing jobs to economically depressed areas. All recoverable forest fuels will be utilized:
small diameter wood will be used to create precision fence rail, deck railing, dowels, and other materials; byproducts (bark, chips, sawdust, etc.), smaller materials and biomass will also be utilized and marketed to local
private partners for processing. The goal of this project is to utilize as much material as possible by creating
economically viable uses and collection methods. Ultimately, over the course of the next five to ten years, we
hope the program instituted by this project will fund equipment investments for value-added manufacture
from small diameter by-products of fuel hazard reduction and other forest health treatments, which facility
could then be utilized (or modeled upon) by surrounding communities wishing to pursue similar programs.
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:
Our planning project, the North Valley County Fire Plan (NVCFP) has already prepared a
multifaceted strategy plan including a number of local, state, and federal agencies as active partners in its
preparation, including: Josephine Co. Fire Defense Board, Rural Metro Fire Dept., Wolf Creek Rural Fire
Protection District, Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), Josephine Co. Planning Dept, and U.S. Forest
Service. The parts of this plan are: 1) a public awareness and education campaign to inform people of what is
involved in a community assessment, and how to reduce the risk of wildfire on their own property as well as
make their structures fire defensible; and 2) the production of maps for community review to prioritize highrisk areas for treatments, structure and 911 address verification, etc., sharing of this data with fire suppression
agencies. The target communities are Wolf Creek, Sunny Valley, Hugo, and Jump-Off Joe. This project
addresses implementation of the risk reduction of wildfire by providing a free fuel hazard mitigation service
to private landowners. The level of cooperation, coordination, and strategic planning, including federal, state,
local, and community organizations, as well as private landowners, is quite extensive. The NVCFP and its
partners in cooperation with the JoCo Soil &Water Conservation Dist., local communities, and private
landowners will identify and prioritize high risk areas. We will coordinate with BLM and ODF on treatment
of federal lands, Oregon Regional Investment Fund provides funding, and Josephine Co. Economic
Development and JoCoSWCD provides technical assistance and liasion to Josephine County. Additionally
this project ties to the various strategies of county, local State Forestry, soil and water conservation, and local
fire department agencies for fire hazard planning and mitigation on private lands adjacent to federal (largely
BLM) land.
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: Sunny Wolf
CRT has been developing this project for years, and has used direct mail to contact all
local households and businesses for interest in participation. Surrounding private landowners, federal, state,
county, and Enterprise Community personnel were contacted directly for this proposal. In addition, this
project has been approved by a grassroots, community-based board at regular public meetings. The need and
potential for project success are very high, and all parties contacted have offered enthusiastic support. Local
landowners would provide secure storage space for the various equipment as it is used in exchange for fuel
hazard mitigation on their property. Costs will also be shared with the Wildland Urban Interface Fuels
Reduction Program of the Josephine County Soil and Water Conservation District via reimbursements
through the landowners for treated acreage on a pro-rated basis. The environmental benefits are obvious: a
reduction in fire hazard, thinning of small diameter wood, and overall environmental improvement to treated
areas. The social benefits are the year-round employment of local workers now idle due to loss of timberrelated harvest-based jobs and financial returns for forest restoration. The educational benefits are extensive:
through the NVCFP, in cooperation with this project, landowners would learn to assess their property and
gain first-hand experience of fuel hazard reduction methods; by training work crews and performing fire
hazard reduction with material recovery, this project provides worker education to locals and partners; and
would assist in educating the local public on the use of small diameter wood and the potential to provide jobs
using this formerly underutilized resource.
Enclosure 3C - Project Work Form
Tasks
Time Frame
Responsible Party
June 2002, ongoing until
December 2003
SWCRT and partners:
NVCFP, Jo. Co. Soil and
Water Conservation District
Advertise for and select contract
Market Research and Product
Development consultant through RFP
July 2002
SWCRT
Design Monitoring Program
August-September 2002
SWCRT
Begin Market Research
Identify product line
August 2002 to November 2002
SWCRT (through consultant)
Advertise for and select personnel and
training contractor
October 2002
SWCRT
Perform preliminary marketing
October 2002 to February 2003
SWCRT (through consultant)
Write business plan
October 2002
SWCRT (through consultant)
Purchase fuel hazard mitigation
equipment, including portable sawmill
and arranging yarder lease
November 2002
SWCRT
Perform personnel training
December 2002
SWCRT (through consultant)
Start material accumulation
Begin production
January 2003
SWCRT
Market product line
March to May 2003
SWCRT (through consultant)
Expand product line
August to October 2003
SWCRT (through consultant)
Hire an additional five workers
November to December 2003
SWCRT
Reinvest net reciepts in additional
processing equipment
October 2003 onward
SWCRT
Complete required reports, set up
long-term monitoring if necessary
January 2004
SWCRT
January 2002 onward
SWCRT
Determine treatment areas
Seek funding to develop value-added
manufacture site
Enclosure 3D Project Budget
Cost Category
Description
Personnel
First quarter wage subsidy
Administrative costs
Subtotal
Federal
Agency
Applicant
SOREDI
Local
Landowners
Total
$0.00
$0.00
$35,979.13
$4000
$39,979.13
$35,979.13
$35,979.13
Fringe Benefits
Secure site for storage
$5,857.07
Subtotal
$5,857.07
$4000
$4000
$0.00
$1400
$5,857.07
$1400.00
$0.00
$7,257.07
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$55,753.80
$6,650.00
$62,403.80
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$20,000
$0.00
$0.00
$1400
$0.00
$0.00
Travel
Subtotal
$0.00
Equipment
Portable sawmill and yarder lease
$55753.80
Vehicles, saws, safety equip.
$6650.00
Subtotal
$62403.80
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
$0.00
Supplies
Subtotal
$0.00
$0.00
Contractual
Marketing
$0.00
$20,000
Subtotal
$0.00
Other
Training
Fire safety insurance, permits
Subtotal
$360.00
$17000.00
$17360.00
$0.00
$5000
$0.00
$0.00
$5360.00
$17,000.00
$22,360.00
Total Costs
$121,600.00
$4000
$25000
$1400
$152,000.00
Project (Program) Income1
(using deductive alternative)
1
$0.00
$0.00
$5000
$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.