FY 2001 Programs in Idaho
Updated 08/08/01
Overview:
The National Fire Plan includes five key program areas. Estimated allocations to Idaho include:
| Firefighting Preparedness |
Firefighting Facilities |
Rehab & Restoration |
Hazardous Fuels Treatment |
Forest Health Projects |
| $38,718,000 |
$3,249,000 |
$36,699,000 |
$5,617,000 |
$2,400,000 |
| State Fire Assistance |
Volunteer Fire Assistance |
Economic Action Programs |
Community
and Private
Assistance |
TOTAL |
| $2,184,000 |
$307,000 |
$286,000 |
$3,802,000 |
* $94,362,000 |
| * Includes $1,100,000 in Research and Development in Idaho in support of the National Fire Plan. |
Firefighting Resources:
Staffing the most efficient level (MEL) of resources to provide prompt initial attack on wildfires. - Preparedness Organization:
- $38,718,000 allocated to build to MEL staffing
- 530 positions (permanent and temporary) planned for hire in FY 2001
- 299 permanent employees have been hired (139 in R1 and 160 in R4), and 411 temporary employees hired (180 in R1 and 231 in R4) as of 07/10/01
- Equipment available for firefighting this year: 75 engines, 15 helicopters, 25 lookouts, 5 chase trucks, and one water tender
- Personnel available for firefighting this year: 799 firefighters (initial attack) and 18 prevention personnel
- Fire Facilities:
- Contract of $1,616,077 for the Lucky Peak Helibase awarded in Ada County
- Contracts of $1,371,134 awarded for Price Valley Helibase, helibase lease, building-moving project, and box culvert
- Contract for $581,000 for rental of Type IV and VI engines awarded in Camas, Elmore, Custer, and Twin Falls counties
- Contract for $149,000 nfor Brownlee Guard Station awarded in Washington County
- Contract for $990,000 for 20 fire warehouses in Idaho, Montana, and North Dakota
Rehabilitation and Restoration:
Assuring long-term efforts to improve lands unlikely to recover naturally from fire damage.
- 847,500 acres of National Forest System lands burned in the 2000 fire season.
- $28,719,000 of the $142,000,000 national total in FY 2001 was allocated for projects in Idaho, with an additional $16 million available for combined projects within R1 and R4
- 137 rehabilitation projects were selected for FY 2001 including water systems replacement, reforestation, restoration of roads, watersheds, fisheries, T&E species and other wildlife habitat restoration, administrative facilities, trail restoration, developed recreation facilities, forest products, boundary reestablishment and landownership administration, invasive plant treatment, grazing management, insect suppression, and abandoned mine and heritage site restoration
- More than 950 jobs will be generated through the rehabilitation work, and 827 of these jobs are in the private sector
- Four contracts issued on the Salmon-Challis National Forest for herbicide application
- Eight contracts for $542,000 for weed spraying awarded in Lemhi and Custer County
- Contract of $59,000 for Thunder Mountain culverts awarded in Valley County
- Contract of $157,000 for Idaho City Tree Planning awarded in Elmore County
Hazardous Fuels Reduction:
Targeting fuel management and reduction on high-priority areas, especially wildland/urban interface areas.
- Fuels reduction planning and treatment operations funded at $5,617,000 for projects on more than 66,000 acres. Over 14,200 acres of accomplished treatments entered in the national database
- Total acres treated in FY 2001 may be limited by shorter RxFire burning windows
- The Idaho National Fire Plan Working Group is updating the interface community list, which will help prioritize federal fuels treatment projects, assist agencies in identifying opportunities to work cooperatively, and aid Congress in responding to constituent inquiries
- Contract of $41,000 for tree pruning awarded in Clearwater, Idaho, Latah counties
- Two contracts of $91,000 for land survey awarded in Idaho County
Community Assistance:
Increasing community capacity to reduce wildfire risk and expand local economic opportunities on private, state, and tribal lands through federal and non-federal cost-shares. The community assistance programs in the National Fire Plan include:
- State Fire Assistance: $2,184,000 in grants to increase readiness of state and local firefighting organizations; this includes technical training, funding and equipment, and FIREWISE workshops. Of the total funding, $1,983,000 is dedicated to hazardous fuels reduction projects and development of defensible space in high-risk areas in and around communities evaluated and prioritized with the State of Idaho. The Idaho Department of Lands, in partnership with the USFS via the Western Governors' Association competitive grant process, selected the following projects statewide for hazardous fuels reduction on private or state lands adjacent to public lands in the wildland/urban interface:
- Hope Face - Sandpoint, Idaho
- Heyburn State Park - south end of Lake Coeur d' Alene
- Dixie, Idaho
- Yellowpine, Idaho
- Wilderness Ranch Subdivision near Idaho City
- A "Fire Fair" was held on the Idaho Panhandle National Forest in Sandpoint, focused on hazardous fuels reduction on private, state, and federal lands, reducing fire risk, and creating defensible space for landowners
- The Idaho Department of Lands, BLM, and Forest Service have begun a statewide hazard and risk assessment. Two outcomes of the assessment will be:
- Relative risk by watersheds; i.e. watersheds with high, medium, and low risk for loss to catastrophic fire
- A lead agency will be assigned for each watershed to work with communities. Fire protection responsibility will be a key factor in agency selection
- Volunteer Fire Assistance: $307,000 in grants for rural (local and volunteer) fire departments that protect communities with populations under 10,000 to improve their readiness for and response to wildfires, especially in the wildland/urban interface. Provides funding and technical assistance directly to these fire departments for training and equipment to improve protection capabilities across all land ownerships.
- Forest Health Management: $2,400,000 supports Forest Service field offices and the State Forester in detecting, monitoring, evaluating, preventing, and suppressing invasive species on federal and non-federal forestlands among all federal and state agencies and tribal governments affected by fire. State forestry agencies receive funding to assist private landowners. Also supports noxious weed treatment through grants to local weed districts and cooperatives through the State Department of Agriculture. A weed grant for $1.4 million was awarded to the Idaho Department of Agriculture.
- Economic Action Programs: $286,000 supports Forest Service technical assistance and grants to state, federal, county, local, and tribal governments (and not-for-profit organizations) to help communities develop opportunities and enterprises to diversify uses of forest resources and hazardous fuel byproducts. Also improves state utilization and marketing capabilities.
- Community and Private Land Fire Assistance:
- Fence and infrastructure reconstruction – All 78 Priority 1 fence projects (in the amount of $938,000) have been funded in Idaho. Priority 1 is for fence losses that affect ranching operations and can include holding pens, boundary and interior fences, and non-commercial stock holding fences. Another $61,000 in funding is available to cover Priority 2 requests, which include fences lost on tribal, state, or local government lands
- Hazardous fuels cost-share incentives – $500,000 in grants to the State Forester to reduce and remove hazardous fuels in areas affected by fire. Regions will work with the State to identify needs and priorities on state, private, and tribal lands.
- Multi-resource stewardship – $705,000 in grants to the State Forester to assist landowners in preparation or revision of multi-resource management plans on state, private, and tribal lands. Funds cost-share restoration projects such as tree planting, revegetation, soil stabilization, and watershed restoration work on these lands; this funding targets affected communities and local workers and businesses.
- Economic action pilot projects – $845,000 in grants to state, federal, county, local, and tribal governments (and not-for-profit organizations) to assist communities in expansion and development of markets for wood products resulting from hazardous fuels removal and underutilized small-diameter material. Demonstration projects showing end use such as timber bridges, round timber construction, and biomass-to-energy projects will be emphasized.
- Community Fire Planning – $420,000 in grants awarded directly to communities and other partners (including state, county, and tribal governments and not-for-profits) to develop and revise strategic, action, and fire risk management plans targeting those most affected by fires. Funds increase community resiliency and capacity and encourage strategic growth. Local Forest Service offices are helping to identify communities. Activities to date include county-level activities such as:
- Kootenai County hired a consultant to complete a countywide fire/fuels hazard mitigation plan
- Shoshone County commissioners are leading an effort among fire chiefs, the Forest Service, the State of Idaho, and the BLM to develop a hazard mitigation plan
- The Coeur d'Alene Chamber of Commerce, the Forest Service, and the Idaho Department of Lands sponsored a community leaders' forum on reduction of fire risk in the county
- The Idaho Department of Lands has established the Idaho National Fire Plan Working Group. Its primary purpose is to deliver National Fire Plan programs through coordination with a number of local agencies and federal partners including the Forest Service and DOI agencies.
- The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise hosted a meeting in March with state and federal agency employment and business partners on employment and contracting opportunities available through the National Fire Plan.
For more information on these and other program activities, see our CONTACTS page.
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