Fuel reduction plan takes shape GCS Research of Missoula maps the way.

An ambitious plan that will pave the way for forest-fire fuel reduction projects in the Flathead Valley is taking shape, and those involved want the public’s input on areas that should be priorities.

By JIM MANN
The Daily Inter Lake

The nonprofit Northwest Regional Resource Conservation and Development Area Inc. has taken the lead on the project, scheduling a series of public meetings for late October and early November.

In its final form, the Flathead Community Wildfire Fuel Reduction-Mitigation Plan will prioritize fuel reduction project areas, said Bill Swope, a longtime Forest Service firefighter who now works with Resource Conservation and Development.

Expected to be finished before the end of the year, the plan also will serve as a prerequisite for pursuing grants from the state, which is overseeing distribution of National Fire Plan money.

The Healthy Forest Restoration Act requires communities to develop the plans to qualify for the grants, said Michael Beltz, who works with GCS Research, a consulting firm hired to write the plan.

"There’s a lot of flexibility for communities to dictate what goes into those plans, but the core is to develop priorities for fuel reduction work," he said.

GCS Research http://www.gcs-research.com has already developed "risk assessment" maps that show areas in the Flathead Valley, such as Big Mountain and the Many Lakes area, that have relatively high fire risks.

Prioritizing those areas for actual fuel reduction work is another matter, Swope said.

That’s a process where public comments will be important. The upcoming meetings present an opportunity for property owners and homeowner associations to weigh in and lobby for fuel reduction work.

"It’s their chance to understand where they sit in the overall picture of fire risk and it’s a chance to tell their fire chief they are concerned," Swope said.

Most of the nine meetings are being held in local fire halls, and all will be attended by local fire officials who will be influential in developing the fire plan, Swope said.

"We have talked to all of the fire district chiefs and asked them to identify, from a firefighting perspective, the areas that would be most critical," Beltz said. "Some of these priority areas usually involve a high density of houses and people and a high density of wildfire fuels. In other cases it may involve a lack of water or limited access into and out of a subdivision."

Swope said that fuel reduction projects are likely to be aimed at protecting entire areas, rather than scattered, individual properties. But the public can weigh in on that issue as well, he said.

"Right now, and this will be a question for the communities, the lowest common denominator would be treating an entire subdivision rather than treating scattered homes here and there," he said. "We want to get the best total results out of this."

Several grant-funded fuel reduction projects are already under way in Flathead County.

Fuel reduction work is being done on land in the North Fork through a grant administered by Resource Conservation and Development. That effort involves projects that have 75 percent grant funding with a 25 percent matching contribution from landowners.

Resource Conservation and Development recently sent out a mailing to 400 residents in the Angel Point and Lakeside areas to solicit interest in a fuel reduction project that has already been funded for that area.

The Bigfork Fire Department is administering a grant program for fuel reduction with willing property owners in the department’s jurisdiction, and the Flathead Economic Policy Center is administering a similar program for the area between Hungry Horse and West Glacier.

Swope said about $7,000 is available to assess risks and potential fuel reduction work in the forested area between Echo Lake and Lake Blaine, with an emphasis on the Many Lakes area. That assessment, along with the countywide plan, could clear the way for grant-funded fuel reduction work starting sometime next year.

Reporter Jim Mann may be reached at 758-4407 or by e-mail at [email protected]