Caribou-Targhee National Forest, High Country RC&D awarded for fuels reduction
DRIGGS, Idaho (KIFI) - The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), High Country Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) and the Caribou-Targhee National Forest (CTNF) was recently awarded $2.6 million through the USDA Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Partnership (JCLRP) for the South Teton Valley Hazardous Fuels project.
The collaboratively developed proposal focuses on the southern portion of Teton Valley working to reduce wildfire risk through fuels reduction treatments within the wildland urban interface on private and public lands.
“In 2016, the Tie Fire burned 1,039 acres at the southern end of Teton County and threatened highway 31, the regional Bonneville Powerline, and homes. The fire suppression cost totaled $4.2 million dollars,” Teton Basin District Ranger Jay Pence said. “Since the Tie Fire, the CTNF, RC&D, Teton County Fire and Rescue, and Idaho Department of Lands have focused on cross-boundary fuels mitigation efforts across the valley. Through a partnership agreement and support from Western Fire Managers and Hazardous Fuels Removal, a total of $535,000 in grant funding was used for treatment.”
To date, 187 acres of hazardous fuels are treated on private lands, with additional 30 acres planned for the Spring of 2023.
The CTNF developed the South Valley Hazardous Fuels Reduction Project and signed the Environmental Assessment in 2021 to begin a combination of commercial timber harvest, hand thinning, and prescribed fire treatments. The funding received from Idaho Department of Lands (IDL) is best suited to treating small lots. The agencies involved recognized that the NRCS’ Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) might be used to help treat private properties of five acres or more. The USDA JCLRP will provide up to $1,098,000 in targeted EQIP funds to treat 900 acres of private property over the next three years. The efforts on the CTNF and private lands complement one another and help confront the wildfire crisis through these mutually defined priorities that support the local community.
The CTNF will spend approximately $878,000 over the next three years. Treatments will focus along the CTNF and private boundary in preparation of planned prescribed fire operations, hand thinning surrounding the Mike Harris Campground and Southern Valley Trails system and hand thinning activity slashing to broaden the prescribed fire prescription window in burn units adjacent to private lands.
RC&D will be providing private landowner technical assistance and acting as a liaison between landowners, NRCS and IDL. Technical assistance will include hazard fuel treatment prescriptions, timber marking, assistance/education on how to apply and meet requirements for EQIP and IDL. The JCLRP will provide $681,000 over three years to complete this work.
