Applegate Fire Plan: From Our Public Meetings
Our first
round of public meetings, held from November 26 through December 10, were
meant to be informative and to spark interest in the Applegate Fire Plan.
Of course we had plenty of questions about the plan, and most were
answered during the meetings. However, a few were taken back to our “Oversight
Committee” (composed of one
representative from each of the 21 partners)
for discussion and comment.
We’ve listed these questions below, with the
comments following:
Q:
There was quite a lot of interest expressed regarding private landowner
harvesting regulations. Will this
be addressed in the plan and can the timber companies be asked to “clean
up”? (11/26 & 11/29)
Yes, this
will be addressed in several areas of the plan – within the historical
overview and current conditions, as we look at the effects of all previous
land management activities by all parties.
Under fuel reduction strategies, we can look at regulations that
all private land owners must adhere to under the SFPA or State Forest
Practices Act, which is regulated by ODF.
We may list out several of the more relevant regulations in the plan,
also.
Q: When do community members get to be
“partners” and participate in the plan?
Concern was voiced that we chose the 12 Community reps – can more
people participate? (11/26)
There are
several questions to answer here. We
are truly inviting the public to comment on this project as they desire, and
we set up a comment section on the project’s webpage at www.grayback.com
two days after this meeting. The
project coordinator’s names and phone numbers, as well as the project’s
office telephone number, were all
published in our first newsletter.
We will
also be conducting smaller, neighborhood type meetings over the next few
months to discuss the emergency communications part of this plan – how do
you want to set up your neighborhood’s system?
Do you want a system at all? (Everything
is voluntary here!) Then, once
our draft plan is available in February, these same sized meetings will then
begin addressing how fuels reduction strategies in each localized area should
be mapped out. Anyone who is
interested in these planning processes can participate.
We have
set up a multi-tiered approach to community involvement on this project, in
part because there are so many aspects that we are addressing!
Presently we have a team of 12 folks from around the watershed who are
somewhat up on fire issues, they are interested in what this plan is about,
and they can give us a good bit of their time towards public outreach.
Three of these folks have volunteered to put even more time into the
process, by attending monthly Oversight meetings, as well as many ID or
Interdisciplinary team meetings. The
work of the ID team is progressing rapidly, and it was decided that we should
maintain just these three community team members on the ID team.
We will, however, be expanding out with another tier of interested
folks from around the watershed – those of you who indicated interest at the
meetings and left us your names and phone numbers to call.
During January and February we’ll be calling you to help set up the
smaller neighborhood meetings. All
of you will have access to the originally designated community team folks, so
that you can forward comments to them about the plan or call and find out
what’s going on.
Q: In emergency situations cell phones don’t
work in many areas of the valley; can we get CBs or some type of 2-way radios
from some type of NFP budget? (11/27 & 11/29- Jackson County)
Al Rhodes, Josephine County’s
Emergency Services Coordinator, said that they use ham radios in Josephine County with a lot
of success. This could possibly
be utilized in Jackson County, too. All
communications with these ham radios in Josephine County is coordinated and
run through the ARES – Amateur Radio Emergency System.
We are still working on the funding portion of this question. We will follow up with a small team to investigate the best
methods of communicating in an emergency, and how equipment of this sort might
be funded, and we will report back to you at a later date.
Q: Regarding funding for
on-the-ground work: will requests need to go through the Fire Plan project, or
straight to ODF, who has the actual funds? (11/27)
In an effort to be as fair as possible
with the funds available, we feel we should coordinate all projects through
the Fire Plan, with a developed set of criteria and suggested strategies for
neighborhood or individual projects. We
feel a need to keep track of our progress.
If we can show, over a period of time, that we have made significant
progress in reducing fuels in the interface areas of our watershed, we will
have more “pull” in requesting future funding.
(Another version of “the squeaky wheel gets the grease”)
In
trying to get as much work done on the ground this winter as possible, the
project’s Core Team will set up a simple system with ODF and local fire
departments to promote fuel reduction activities on private lands this winter,
with cash reimbursements available on several levels.
It was also discussed that we should set up an
annual, perpetual funding request of each County’s Title 3 monies, to be
used for fuels reduction work throught the valley.
Q: Can we have a workshop in-the-field on how to
burn? (11/29, 12/3)
Yes, this can be done, any time during
the winter or spring. It could be
on public or private land that needs work.
Other field trips or workshops or self-guided tours of before-and-after
treatment will also be arranged – give us suggestions on what you’d like
to learn! We are thinking of
maybe one day where several workshops take place, and you can choose which
you’d like to attend. (Lots of
feedback from a certain area on a certain topic might bring the workshop
closer to you!)
Q: I have concerns about how
small-scale homeowner work and agency large-scale projects will be
coordinated… (11/26)
This
is the essence of our Applegate Fire Plan – working together.
We have given this concern to the ID team and to the plan’s writer to
address in the plan itself.
Q: What if I want to have animal habitat, or
songbirds or a wall of privacy around my home?
Do I have to cut everything down?
(11/27)
No!
Each landowner will determine his or her own personal objectives for
their land, whether it be wildlife, privacy, fuels reduction or all of the
above. There are methods to speak
to these “conflicting values” so that everyone can enjoy their land as
they desire, but still have less fire hazard in the valley.