Mike Merz Pres., BHNA

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1 Wildfire Mitigation Projects Our neighbors are ecstatic about the free chipper! As one person said, this is the best thing the City has ever done for us. We have removed a lot of flammable brush & trees from Boise Heights. Hope you can do it again next year. Mike Merz Pres., BHNA

2 Oregon Trail Project The Oregon Trails neighborhoods, in Boise s wildland-urban interface, have large undeveloped and occluded areas, with heavy vegetative fuel loads, directly adjacent to nearby homes. Twenty one unmaintained acres in the Oregon Trails area were identified as posing a significant wildfire risk. Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation and Development worked with Boise City, BLM, Ada County WILD (Work in Lieu of Detention), Forest Management LLC and the homeowners associations of Cove East, Columbia Village, Homestead Rim and Oregon Trail Heights, to begin a hazardous fuel thinning and reduction project to reduce the severity of a fire should one start in these areas. Many of these parcels are situated on sloped terrain, which increases the wildfire risk potential of the fuels in relation to the surrounding homes. This was evidenced, in the same general area, during the Oregon Trails fire on August 25, The Southwest Idaho RC&D allocated $30,000 for hazardous fuel reduction, spraying of herbicide and reseeding. Ada County WILD, a Juvenile Court Services alternative sentencing program, also provided free labor for weed trimming and sagebrush thinning on approximately nine of the twenty one acres. Equipment costs totaled $5,660 to provide for fifteen trimmers, two chainsaws and ten bow-saws for the Ada County WILD crews; this equipment will be utilized by Ada County WILD for future Boise City wildfire mitigation projects. $19,950 was spent with Forest Management on contracted sagebrush thinning, chipping and hauling away of debris. Remaining funds will be utilized for fall reseeding efforts. This project directly impacts thousands of acres of public land and hundreds of homes in the area. As a result of the project, the severity of wildfire in these areas and the associated hazard potential will be greatly reduced. This project also heightened community awareness of the wildfire threat and Firewise methods, through word of mouth and media outreach. Several of the partner homeowners associations have shown an interest in pursuing designation as a nationally recognized Firewise Community. Fuel Reduction Area

3 Neighborhood Chipper Project Over the course of the last several years, a few foothills neighborhood associations, Central Foothills, Boise Heights and Warm Springs Mesa, have been actively addressing wildfire risk issues. Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation and Development worked with Boise City, BLM, Ada County, Forest Management LLC, and the neighborhood associations, to provide the means for additional hazardous fuels reduction in these three neighborhoods. Funding was approved to assist homeowners with reducing fire risk, by providing residents with the means to dispose of large amounts of organic material. This vegetation, much of which was planted when these neighborhoods were established in the 50 s, 60 s and 70 s, consists of large quantities of highly flammable species, too burdensome and expensive for homeowners to remove. A hired contractor, Forest Management LLC, provided a roaming chipper and dump truck to dispose of hazardous woody fuels, removed by residents and placed curbside, on consecutive weekends in April. Eight hours of contracted work on each Saturday in April was a cost of $4,800. No mailing costs were incurred thanks to Ada County WILD (Work in Lieu of Detention) crews who hand delivered them. Homeowner response to the project was tremendous and pleasantly surprising. An additional $15,200 was used for extra contractor hours needed to remove the substantial amount of debris that homeowners had put curbside. A total of $17,900 was spent on the project. 352 homeowners participated. The rate of participation in the three neighborhoods was as follows: Neighborhood Boise Heights Central Foothills Warm Springs Mesa Total Participation 28% 31% 38%

4 Military Reserve Project This year Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation and Development Council worked with Boise City to revive the Military Reserve project also along with the BLM, We Rent Goats, Ridge to Rivers, the Veterans Administration, Idaho Department of Lands and several nearby homeowners. The project s aim was to reduce the likelihood of fire spreading from adjacent homes to Military Reserve and to restore native vegetation. There are several areas within Military Reserve that are excellent examples of a healthy foothills ecosystem. FIRE-UP (Field Investigative Research Experience) joined in to assess the wildfire risks associated with multiple types of properties in Boise s Wildland-Urban Interface, including residential, as well as undeveloped open and occluded spaces. The Southwest Idaho RC&D allocated $62,300 for grazing, mowing, herbicide application, seeding and outreach. The funding request was approved. An RFP was put out for the grazing part of the project, and selected a local goat contractor, Tim Linquist with We Rent Goats. The costs of purchasing equipment, or paying contractors to mow and trim areas of Military Reserve, was exorbitant compared to using goats to graze hazardous fuels in the hilly terrain. The original intent was to create a 200 foot buffer around the entire perimeter of Military Reserve for a total of 106 mitigated acres. There was a concerned that the buffer on the northwest side of Military Reserve would not be effective in stopping a fire starting in the heavy vegetation along Mountain Cove Road and then rushing up the hillside. Additional funding was promoted to have goats graze the entire 157 acres northwest of Mountain Cove Road, as well as a 200 foot buffer comprising approximately 14 acres on the northeast side, directly adjacent to homes along Santa Maria, Candleridge and Knights Drive. As of July 2012 a total of approximately $59,850 has been spent on this project. The remaining funds will be spent on fall reseeding efforts in Military Reserve. Fire start data for the Boise area, over the past several decades, indicates the prevalence of wildfire ignitions adjacent to roadways and residences in the WUI. This project directly impacts thousands of acres of public land and hundreds of homes in the WUI. As a result of the project, the severity of wildfire in these areas and the associated hazard potential will be greatly reduced. Goat Grazing Area

5 Quail Ridge Project The Quail Ridge neighborhood in the Boise Foothills has large common areas with huge amounts of hazardous vegetative fuel near homes. These common areas, totaling approximately 75 acres, have not been well maintained by the homeowners association and were identified by an occluded spaces survey as posing a significant wildfire risk. Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation and Development Council partnered with Boise City, BLM, We Rent Goats, the Quail Ridge Neighborhood Association and the Briarhill Homeowners Association to start a hazardous fuels reduction program, using 500+ goats, to graze hazardous fuels behind homes in these occluded spaces. Additionally, 35+ homeowners partnered in this endeavor by providing water for the goats. The natural features of the grazed parcels include significant slope and topography, making manual methods of fuel reduction extremely difficult to impossible. We worked with local goat contractor, Tim Linquist with We Rent Goats. Notification was provided to homeowners regarding the project. The total cost of the project was $30,500. This project directly impacts thousands of acres of public land and hundreds of homes in the area. As a result of the project, the severity of wildfire in these areas and the associated hazard potential will be greatly reduced. This project also heightened community awareness of the wildfire threat and Firewise methods, Goat Grazing Area through word of mouth and media outreach. Also, as a result of the project, the Quail Ridge Neighborhood Association is actively pursuing designation as a nationally recognized Firewise Community. Additionally, several homeowners rented the goats to graze their parcels while the goats were on-site.