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Title: |
Thompson Creek, OR - Fuels Reduction Project - Step by Step
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Type: |
Homeowner assistance
Fuelbreaks
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Jurisdiction: |
City/town
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State: |
Oregon
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Program Description: |
Thompson Creek, OR Fuels Reduction Project: Step by Step
Introduction
In 2003, the Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (IVCDO) received a National Fire Plan grant to coordinate a neighborhood fuels reduction project. Working in coordination with the Illinois Valley Rural Fire Protection District and the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan, the IVCDO identified the Thompson Creek area as a high priority area for implementing a neighborhood fuels reduction project.
The IVCDO worked closely with the local fire district to engage community members to participate in the project and reimbursed homeowners who completed defensible space around their homes. The local fire district also conducted outreach to recruit residents to participate in the fuels reduction project and improve overall public safety. The Bureau of Land Management is also treating public land adjacent to the Thompson Creek neighborhood in a separate, but coordinated effort.
This case study provides a step-by-step description of the site selection, National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process, and project implementation, as well as the relationship of the project to the county and local fire plans.
Josephine County and Illinois Valley Fire Plans
Fire planning for the Thompson Creek area is addressed in the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan, which was initiated in 2003 in response to the 2002 Biscuit Fire and the inherent fire risk in the region. The Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan includes a county-wide risk assessment that illustrates the high risk to wildfire that exists in Thompson Creek. The County�s fire plan also identifies priorities for hazardous fuels reduction projects, fire-related emergency planning, education and outreach and biomass utilization. The Josephine County Board of Commissioners adopted the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan in November 2004.
In 2004, the Illinois Valley Fire District (IVFD) received Title III funding from Josephine County to develop a Community Wildfire Protection Plan for the Illinois Valley, including the Thompson Creek area. The mission of the Illinois Valley Fire Plan is to promote fire safe planning, hazard mitigation and emergency response efforts at both the neighborhood and community level. Both plans can be viewed at this website, www.co.josephine.or.us/wildfire.index.htm.
Project Objectives
The objectives of the fuels reduction project are to reduce the risk that residents of the Thompson Creek neighborhood face from wildfire. To accomplish this, the project provides funding to create defensible space around structures, increase driveway access to individual homes (egress/ingress) and creates buffers along roadways to improve public safety. The project also coordinates defensible space around private property with landscape treatments on adjacent public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management.
Fuels Reduction Project: Step by Step
Step 1. Identify Funding and Initiate Project
In the wake of the 2002 Biscuit Fire organizations throughout Josephine County, increased efforts to help citizens reduce their risk to wildfire. In early 2003, the Illinois Valley Community Development Organization (IVCDO) applied for a National Fire Plan (NFP) grant to implement defensible space and hazardous fuels reduction treatments on private property. In the summer of 2004, the IVCDO received $253,984 from the National Fire Plan to coordinate this project in the Illinois Valley.
Step 2. Conduct a Wildfire Risk Assessment
The County�s risk assessment identified and prioritized areas at high risk to wildfire and branded Thompson Creek as a priority in the Illinois Valley for hazardous fuels reduction. An interagency committee comprised of staff from Josephine County GIS, local fire districts, federal land management agencies, and the Oregon Department completed the wildfire risk assessment that included the following five elements:
- Risk: the potential and frequency for wildfire ignitions (based on past occurrences)
- Hazard: the conditions that may contribute to wildfire (fuels, slope, aspect, elevation and weather)
- Values: the people, property, natural resources and other resources that could suffer losses in a wildfire event.
- Protection Capability: the ability to mitigate losses, prepare for, respond to and suppress wildland and structural fires.
- Structural Vulnerability: the elements that affect the level of exposure of the hazard to the structure (roof type and building materials, access to the structure, and whether or not there is defensible space or fuels reduction around the structure.)
The risk assessment methodology and list of the prioritized strategic planning areas can be found in the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan at this website, www.co.josephine.or.us/wildfire/index.htm.
Step 3. Select a Site
The IVCDO met with several partner agencies and the Illinois Valley Rural Fire Protection District to identify a fuels reduction project in a high-risk area adjacent to federal land with planned fuels reduction projects. Using the risk assessment, the partners selected Thompson Creek as it is located in one of the highest risk strategic planning areas in the County. The Thompson Creek site is also adjacent to federal lands and provided an opportunity to coordinate fuels treatments across jurisdictional boundaries.
Step 4. Obtain Property Owner Permission to do NEPA Survey
The Thompson Creek Neighborhood fuels reduction project, funded by National Fire Plan dollars, is focused on treatment of private land. However, because federal funds are being used National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) requirements apply.
The IVCDO secured a 10% advance of the National Fire Plan grant to cover initial expenses associated with project planning and to conduct the outreach and obtain permission from the landowners for the required NEPA surveys. The IVCDO worked with the Illinois Valley Fire District to identify landowners willing to allow Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff on their property to carry out the NEPA surveys. The initial neighborhood "champions," identified by a person-to-person outreach effort lead by the Illinois Valley Fire District staff, agreed to allow BLM staff on their private property for the purpose of completing the NEPA survey necessary in order for the neighborhood project to proceed.
The IVCDO and Illinois Valley Fire District credit their success in gaining landowner participation for the NEPA surveys to hand delivering letters and following up several days later to answer questions. The fire district staff felt that residents� willingness to cooperate with them stems from the fact that the fire district is a part of the community, and they are trusted as acting in the interest of public safety.
Step 5. Schedule and Complete NEPA Surveys
An inter-disciplinary team formed by the BLM carried out the NEPA surveys and was completed as an in-kind contribution. After conducting the initial NEPA surveys for the Thompson Creek project, the BLM determined that site met conditions necessary to obtain a categorical exclusion from further NEPA analysis. The Healthy Forests Restoration Act includes provisions for the use of categorical exclusions; a streamlined NEPA process that only requires surveys for cultural resources and threatened and endangered species on a percentage of the project area (in this particular case, a minimum of 20% of the overall).
Step 6. Design the Scale and Type of Treatment � Interagency Field Tour
The IVCDO worked with the Illinois Valley Fire District and other partners to design the scale and type of treatment for defensible space around homes, fuels reduction treatments at the landscape level and fuels reduction along driveways and public roads. This step of the process included an interagency field trip to the Thompson Creek Neighborhood to assess conditions. In September 2004, staff of the IVCDO, BLM, Oregon Department of Forestry and Jefferson Sustainable Development Initiative participated in a field trip to coordinate local efforts and identify broader landscape fuels reduction opportunities across public and private property boundaries. The group also discussed utilization of bi-products from the hazardous fuels reduction efforts. The relatively small scale of the Thompson Creek project led participants on the field trip to conclude that biomass utilization opportunities are limited. Firewood will likely be the primary use of biomass removed during the treatment on private land.
Step 7. Rally Neighborhood Interest and Participation
The IVFD and the IVCDO worked together to recruit residents to participate in the Thompson Creek hazardous fuels reduction project. A letter campaign sent out by the IVFD kicked-off the Thompson Creek public outreach effort and announced a series of public meetings, which took place in the fall of 2004. The IVCDO and Fire District cultivated interest at community meetings and by conducting door-to-door visits throughout the neighborhood.
The neighborhood meetings provided information about the fuels reduction project, the Josephine County Integrated Fire Plan and local community fire planning efforts included in the Illinois Valley Fire Plan. Some residents at the community meetings expressed interest and agreed to be among the first to participate by doing defensible space on their property. The IVCDO also identified enthusiastic champions to help follow up with their neighbors and encourage participation.
After the meetings, staff of the IVFD continued the door-to-door campaign to identify additional homeowners to participate in the project. The fire district proved to be an effective, locally based entity, to successfully initiate contact with homeowners. By November 2004, more than 20 residents had volunteered to participate in fuels reduction efforts. A significant number of residents opted to do the fuels reduction work on their own property. Some indicated that they intended to hire a neighbor or someone by word of mouth. Only a few residents indicated they would hire a licensed and bonded contractor.
Step 8. Implement Defensible Space Treatments Around Homes
The IVCDO and IVFD staff worked jointly to develop individual prescriptions during a site assessment conducted with each property owner or resident. During these visits, staff conducted a �walk-through� of the property with residents and educated them about the terms of the prescription. The prescriptions and cost estimates developed by the IVCDO staff are grouped according to four categories, which correspond to the intensity of work that is required in order to meet defensible space guidelines. Each prescription is written according to guidelines consistent with the Illinois Valley Fire Plan and other applicable standards including Josephine County Article 76: Wildfire Protection Standards for New Development and Oregon Senate Bill 360.
The IVCDO and IVFD developed prescriptions for landowners and provided a cost estimate for the defensible space effort. The IVCDO informed landowners that they could be reimbursed for up to 75% of the estimated cost for completed and inspected work around their home. Landowners had the option to complete the work themselves or hire a licensed or non-licensed contractor of their choice (in either case they qualify for the reimbursement once the terms of the prescription have been met and verified). Because property owners complete the work themselves or hire a contractor themselves, all liability remains with the property owner and/or the contractor, and not with the IVCDO or the IVFD.
Step 9. Verify Defensible Space Prescription is Complete
The property owners had responsibility for scheduling the inspection once they had completed treatment. The same IVFD and IVCDO staff that worked with the homeowner to create the original prescription also conducted the inspection. If the prescription had not been met, the homeowner had the opportunity to do additional work and reschedule a follow-up inspection to obtain approval that the defensible space was complete.
Step 10. Homeowner Reimbursement and Use of the Sliding Scale
Before issuing reimbursements, the IVCDO and IVFD conducted inspections to ensure that fuels management objectives (and the site-specific prescriptions) have been met. The National Fire Plan grant provided all residents participating in the Thompson Creek fuels reduction project with the opportunity to be reimbursed for completing the work as written in the prescription. However, some residents utilized the technical assistance provided by IVCDO and IVFD staff, completed approved defensible space around their home, but declined monetary reimbursement. Other residents completed some of, but not all the required defensible space and so did not qualify for the reimbursement.
The standard reimbursement rate associated with this project was 75% of the total cost of completing the defensible space. The project administrators set the reimbursement rate prior to contacting landowners and soliciting participants. The IVCDO also implemented a sliding scale system by offering residents the opportunity to decline reimbursement so that the project area could be extended. Alternatively, residents who could not afford to pay the 25% out of pocket expense to hire a contractor had the option to do the work themselves or hire a neighbor who performed the work for the dollar value of the reimbursement.
The IVCDO coordinated with Josephine County Senior and Disabled Services to provide the additional assistance to low income, elderly and disabled residents. The IVCDO provided full reimbursement to special needs residents in the Thompson Creek area who completed or contracted defensible space work around their home. To maintain confidentiality, Josephine County Senior and Disabled Services mailed letters directly to their clients in the Thompson Creek area. Letters included a description of the project and the contact information for the IVCDO staff. The special needs residents who received the letter had responsibility for contacting the IVCDO to participate in the project.
Neighbors outside of the Thompson Creek neighborhood also had the opportunity to do fuels reduction work around their homes by contacting the Oregon Department of Forestry and participating in their home assessment program. The Oregon Department of Forestry program offers a $330 rebate to homeowners who complete defensible space work around their homes that is approved by Oregon Department of Forestry staff. The Oregon Department of Forestry rebate program is not linked to income or a sliding scale.
Step 11. Contract Road and Driveway Work Interagency Field trip
The IVCDO administered the funds for hazardous fuels reduction treatment work done along roads and driveways by hiring, directing and inspecting the work of the contractor. The project administrators specifically selected a licensed contractor for the work. The IVCDO also withheld $50 from each participant�s reimbursement and applied that amount to pay for the fuels reduction work along public roads and evacuation routes.
Accomplishments
Number of homeowners participating: 28
Percent of prescriptions which passed final inspection: 90% - 100%
Acres of defensible space created around homes (cost-share): 28
Acres of strategic landscape density management (cost-share): 116
Acres of landscape treatment done voluntarily by landowners: 26
Acres treated adjacent to roads: To be determined
Total acres treated 170.
Contact Information
For more information contact :
Illinois Valley Community Development Organization
Bob Schumacher and Paul Showalter
139 South Redwood Hwy, PO Box 1824
Cave Junction, OR 97523
(541) 592-4440
Website: WWW.IVCRT.ORG
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Images: |
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Thompson Creek � Before photos of defensible space treatments in Thompson Creek, Josephine County, OR. Winter 2005. Photos courtesy of De Spellman, Illinois Valley Fire Department.
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Thompson Creek - After photos of defensible space treatments in Thompson Creek, Josephine County, OR. Winter 2005. Photos courtesy of De Spellman, Illinois Valley Fire Department
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