Small Town News

Plumas County OKs federal funds for wildfire planning

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The Board of Supervisors approved Title III funding for three projects dealing with wildfire protection and preparedness at its Tuesday, Oct. 20, meeting.

Title III funds are part of the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act and are designated for specific wildfire protection services and reimbursing emergency responses on federal lands that are funded by non-federal entities.

The first approval was for $140,000 to fund Plumas County Fire Safe Council activities for two years.

The Fire Safe Council's proposal said the funds would be used to provide education on techniques that can lower individuals' wildfire risk and assistance in implementing them.

The topics included home location, construction and landscaping techniques.

The proposal indicated the council would also provide assistance to the planning department in making decisions regarding those topics.

In addition, the funds would be used to monitor and update the county's Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

Finally, the proposal indicated some of the funds would go to assist communities in developing projects and grant proposals related to the previous goals.

The proposal allocated $75,000 to Fire Safe Council Coordinator Jerry Hurley, $50,000 to Plumas Corporation, which provides staffing for him, and $15,000 for work on websites and educational materials.

After hearing about the proposal, Supervisor Lori Simpson commented that Forest Service representatives told her that work output would be a focus point this year on whether or not applicants correctly complied with Title III rules.

Plumas Corporation Executive Director John Sheehan responded, "As far as I'm concerned we're doing as much as any fire safe council in the state both in terms of acres and level of outreach and coordination with the private landowners in our county."

Simpson said $75,000 per year seemed like a lot of money for one person, before Sheehan reminded her that the proposal was for two years.

Board of Supervisors Chairwoman Sherrie Thrall asked if Hurley got any other funding.

Sheehan told her "There are minor other sources."

The second proposal was for $25,400 to develop a community wildfire protection plan for the Bucks Lake basin.

Objectives identified in the document included: fuels management planning, fire response and management planning, evacuation planning and capital improvements for the Bucks Lake Fire Department.

The project proposed a split of $6,600 for the Plumas County Flood Control and Water Conservation District, $15,300 for Plumas Corporation and $3,500 for the Bucks Lake Fire Department.

The third proposal asked for $30,000 to provide interactive maps to the fire safe council, integrate them into the county's GIS system and make that system easier for the public to access.

The document added that updating and improving maps would make it easier for the council to revise its Community Wildfire Protection Plan.

The proposal said the project woufd include measures to make the county GIS map system compatible with "the most commonly used Internet browsers."

The money breakdown allocated $15,000 to subcontractors for technical work and $15,000 to the county GIS department for creating the interactive maps.

After the supervisors heard the proposals, County Counsel James Reichle advised they should specify that their approval was contingent upon the recipients complying with any current and future Title III certification requirements.

The board followed that recommendation and unanimously approved the projects, allocating $195,400 of the total $472,512 the county received this year.

The supervisors' action began a 45-day comment period on the projects, with a hearing on the topic set for Dec. 15.



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© 2010 The Chester Progressive Chester, California. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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