[Council Communication]  [Attachments]

Council Communication

Title:	Ashland Forest Resiliency Project
Dept:	Ashland Fire & Rescue
Date:	May 18, 2004
Submitted By:	Keith E. Woodley, Fire Chief
Approved By:	Gino Grimaldi, City Administrator

Synopsis:	The Ashland Forest Lands Commission, Headwaters, Klamath-Siskiyou Wildlands, Ashland Watershed Stewardship Alliance, and the World Wildlife Fund have prepared a "third" community alternative as a City of Ashland proposal to the USFS Ashland Forest Resiliency Project. This alternative is presented in the form of the "Ashland Community Wildfire Protection Plan" (CWPP). The USFS has requested additional information from the City of Ashland on the specifics of our proposal in order to complete their analysis of alternatives. This information must be provided by October 1st.
Recommendation:	Staff recommends that Council endorse the "Ashland Community Wildfire Protection Plan" process as the community "third" alternative in the USFS Ashland Forest Resiliency Project. The Ashland Forest Lands Commission will coordinate the preparation and submission of the additional information that is requested by the USFS.
Fiscal Impact:	It is expected that the USFS will fund the selected alternative. Additional data collection required to complete the CWPP may require contractual labor financed by the City of Ashland if Federal funds are not available. The potential cost of this is not yet known.
Background:	One of the essential functions of the Ashland Watershed is to provide high quality water for domestic supply. In addition to water production, the Ashland Watershed exists as a late-successional and old-growth forest ecosystem that serves as an important habitat for late-successional and old-growth related species, which includes the northern spotted owl. One hundred years of fire suppression and wildfire fuel accumulation in this forest system, as well as within lower elevations of the urban-wildland interface, now present a high potential for large-scale, high intensity wildfires. These wildfire events could significantly interrupt the supply of clean water and the existence of the late-successional and old growth forest ecosystems in the Watershed. The purpose of the Ashland Forest Resiliency Project is to protect these values at risk, reduce crown fire potential, and establish forest ecosystem conditions that are more resilient to wildland fire events. The USFS Ashland Forest Resiliency Project has been granted status as a project under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA). Under HFRA, the USFS is required to evaluate three alternatives, (1) no action, (2) a USFS preferred alternative, and (3) a community alternative submitted as a "Community Wildfire Protection Plan". The Ashland Forest Lands Commission, in cooperation with local environmental stewardship groups, has prepared and submitted to the USFS a framework for the "Ashland Community Wildfire Protection Plan" to be evaluated as the third alternative. Due to time constraints for submission, there was insufficient time to provide full details of proposed silvicultural treatments prior to the submission deadline. The Ashland Forest Lands Commission is pulling together a targeted work group to conduct an assessment of the need for additional inventories of vegetation required to complete the analysis.
Attachments:	•   Forest Resiliency Project Attachments •   Exhibit sumbitted by Eric Navickas

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