JUNEAU, Alaska- Village and contract crews will soon begin thinning trees in three river drainages near Fairbanks and around six villages along the Arctic Circle to reduce wildfire fuel loads. These jobs for local crews are possible because the Forest Service provided a $1.5 million dollar grant from economic recovery funds to the State of Alaska.

Fairbanks North Star Borough fuels reduction will take place in the Washington Creek and Salcha and South Fork Chena river drainages. Teams will thin forests by hand and mechanical means.

Local village crews in the Yukon-Koyukuk area will thin black spruce and mixed hardwoods for 200 feet around homes and village infrastructure facilities, as well as construct firebreaks in areas identified with hazardous fuels buildups. The villages of Ruby, Venetie, Bettles/Evansville, Stevens Village, and Allakaket will benefit from the fuels reduction work.

The Alaska Region Forest Service received $3.9 million in funds so far under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Region received an initial $2.4 million in recovery funds last week for facility repair and replacement, and road improvement and storage.

To date, nationally, the Forest Service has selected approximately ten percent of the projects they will complete under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The Agency expects to finish project selection for the next distribution of its recovery funds within the next several weeks. The Alaska Region submitted additional projects to compete for a portion of those funds.

Editors Note: For project details, please contact:

Forest Service- Ron Knowles (907) 743-9462 rknowles@f.fed.us
State Forester- Chris Maisch (907) 451-2666 chris.maisch@alaska.gov