Grants set for rural fire risk reduction
Grants set for rural fire risk reduction
6January 2005
publishedby http://www.newsreview.info
Rural landowners at risk to wildfires can qualify for grants for hazardous fuels reduction projects to reduce fire risk.
The grants are part of the National Fire Plan, developed in 2000 to respond to severe wildfire and the effects on neighboring communities.
The grants can go toward wildland-urban interface fuels reduction; fuels utilization and marketing; education and prevention; and community wildfire protection planning.
Applications are due Feb. 11 for 2006 grants. The agencies involved in packaging the grants — the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Indian Affairs — expect to award between $4 million and $6 million, mostly toward proposals less than $250,000.
Grants will be awarded some time after Oct. 1.
Some projects that could be funded include:
* Hazardous fuels reduction activities such as prescribed fire and mechanical treatment.
* Providing incentives, technical assistance and education programs to encourage reduction of hazardous fuels in fire-prone communities.
* Developing prevention and education programs focused on mitigating fire risk in the wildland-urban interface.
* Expanding markets for the byproducts of hazardous fuels reduction.
Those communities seeking funding for treatment of hazardous fuels are expected to have complete community wildfire protection plans. Projects in the wildland-urban interface with adjacent projects on federal and/or tribal land are encouraged.
Information, eligibility requirements and applications can be found at: www.nwfireplan.gov/CommunityAsst/Apply.htm
Source: The News-Review Publishing Company, 345 N.E. Winchester, Roseburg, Oregon 97470
