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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFEMA Ltrs of Support - Wildland Fire MitigationFebruary 22, 2010 Board of County Commissioners The Honorable Greg Walden United States House of Representatives 2352 Rayburn House Office Building Washington, DC 20515 1300 NW Wall St, Suite 200 • Bend, OR 97701-1960 (541) 388-6570 • Fax (541 ) 385-3202 www.co.deschutes . or. us board © co. deschutes . or. us Tammy 3aney Dennis R Luke Alan Unger Re: Pre -Disaster Mitigation Program Dear Representative Walden, We respectfully request that your office send to FEMA the attached letter of support for Deschutes County, Crook County and Klamath County for their application to the Pre -Disaster Mitigation program. Wildland fire is no stranger to Central Oregon, where there are over 180,000 people living and working in the wildland urban interface in Deschutes County alone. In the summer months there are an additional 50,000 citizens visiting the area for recreational purposes. Deschutes, Crook and Klamath counties are the most fire -prone counties in the entire Pacific Northwest, which is known as FEMA Region X. In the three counties, there are over 500,000 acres or "unprotected lands", which means that no single federal, state or local government agency has either structural or wildland fire responsibilities. Over the last twenty years, the area has experienced an average of 752 wildland fires that resulted in over 75,000 acres burned each year. This grant will allow these counties to maintain and build on the efforts of the past three years by providing mitigation on private lands to create defensible space and decrease ladder fuels, thereby reducing the risks of catastrophic wildland fires. This will help protect citizens' properties and entire neighborhoods. Sincerely, The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners Dennis R. Luke, Chair Alan Unger, Vice Chair Tammy Baney, Commissioner Enhancing the Lives of Citizens by Delivering Quality Services in a Cost -Effective Manner Federal Emergency Management Agency W. Craig Fugate, Administrator Edward L. Connor, Acting Assistant Administrator for Mitigation 504 "C" Street SW Washington, DC 29472 Dear Mr. Fugate and Mr. Connor, I am writing this letter of support for Deschutes County for its application for funding through the FEMA Pre -Disaster Mitigation Program. Deschutes County has been and remains one of the fastest growing areas in the Pacific Northwest, with over 180,000 people living and working in the wildland urban interface in Deschutes County alone. In the summer months, there are an additional 50,000 citizens visiting the area for recreational purposes. Wildland fire is no stranger to the area. In 2006, the Black Crater Fire burned over 9,000 acres and caused the evacuation of over 1,500 people in the community of Sisters, Oregon. In 2007, the GW fire burned an additional 6,000 acres and caused another evacuation in the same area. To minimize the potential loss of lives, property and natural resources, hazardous fuels must be reduced before wildland fire has the opportunity to occur. Thanks to the Healthy Forests Restoration Act, federal land managers are acting to reduce hazardous fuels and restore forests on public lands. Strong educational efforts and fuels treatment are necessary to engage individual landowners to do the same on private property, thereby maximizing treatments and protecting communities in the wildland urban interface. Please visit the ongoing education and prevention efforts in Deschutes County at www.projectwildfire.org and www.firefree.org. Deschutes County, in cooperation with Crook County, has received two pre - disaster mitigation grants in the past that allowed for treatment of wildland hazardous fuels on private lands. During the past three years, an average of over 2,000 acres per year has received treatment. Often residential lots of one-half acre or less are the target. The success of these programs has resulted in part from the tremendous support from private property owners who participate in "sweat equity" programs, whereby individual property owners create defensible space around their homes. The treated vegetation is removed, and the product is ground and used to produce clean electricity. Last year alone, over 200,000 cubic yards of product was created. Success is measured not only in acres treated and cubic yard re -cycled. The most compelling measure of success is the fact that not one home has been lost to wildland fire in Deschutes County since 2003. The success of the program can be attributed to three factors: homeowner education and responsibilities through voluntarily providing defensible space; a well coordinated interagency response by the emergency services agencies; and providing assistance through grant funding to mitigate the hazards by treating the wildland fuels. For this current grant application period, Klamath County is included to address the significant wildland urban interface problems in the unincorporated areas of that county. Deschutes, Crook and Klamath Counties are the most fire -prone in the entire Pacific Northwest, known as FEMA Region X. In the three counties there are over 500,000 acres of "unprotected lands", which means that no single federal, state or local government agency has either structural or wildland fire responsibilities. Over the last twenty years, there have been over 752 wildland fires that burned over 75,000 acres each year. This grant will allow Deschutes, Crook and Klamath Counties to maintain and build on the efforts of the past three years by creating defensible space and reducing ladder fuels on private lands, which will help reduce the risks of catastrophic wildland fires on privately owned properties and in neighborhoods. The high probability for devastating wildland fires presents an ongoing threat to the health and safety of the region, and the work to mitigate this threat must continue. I ask that the Federal Emergency Management Agency support the application submitted by Deschutes County for funding a comprehensive fuels mitigation program. Thank you for your consideration. Sincerely,