Jackknife - Stewardship Project

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Goals and Objectives

The Lower Kettle River Community Wildfire Protection Plan (LKRCWPP) was discussed in the fall of 2002, when the Northeast Washington Forestry Coalition (NEW FC), the Forest Service (FS), and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources (WA DNR) were discussing the high fire danger throughout the Colville National Forest and the surrounding private and state lands. The Lower Kettle River (Orient) area was chosen as one of the first areas for a fire plan in the Colville National Forest area, with planning effort starting the summer of 2004. A very active community was involved in the planning process. Several fire suppression agencies working in the Lower Kettle River area, land managers from the Forest Service, State and private sector, and people living in the Lower Kettle River area worked with numerous land management plans across FS, State, and private land on the fire plan.

This wildfire protection plan provides an overall view of the watershed and its relationship with fire. It suggests ways the relationship can be improved, individually and as a community. It also provides direction to local agency land managers and concerned landowners who want to work with their state and federal neighbors in developing fuel reduction strategies. The Lower Kettle River Community Wildfire Protection Plan addresses the main components of wildfire and separates the approximate 295,000-acre project area into five separate strategic planning areas (SPAs) with individual descriptions and recommendations. Three SPAs are in Ferry County, and two SPAs are located in Stevens County. The LKRCWPP discusses the planning process, gives a community profile, and describes the Mitigation Action Plan, monitoring, and evaluation.

The LKRCWPP planning process resulted in three basic goals:

1. 1. Improve community awareness of our stewardship of the land and foster a respect for the ecosystem and the processes that maintain it.
2. Develop a wide array of strategies for fuel reduction and fire suppression that Lower Kettle River area residents can accept as sensible precautions against catastrophic fire, and that agencies can incorporate into their current management practices.
3. Restore fire-adaptive species in the ecosystem, thereby encouraging more fire-resilient forests.

Methodology

A Framework for Community Fire Plans, collaboratively developed by numerous agencies and the Program for Watershed and Community Health at the University of Oregon, was used as a guideline for the CWPP planning process. This framework takes several federal programs and policies into consideration, and address the various requirements of the Bureau of Land Management Interim Guidance for Community Risk Assessment and Mitigation Plans, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Pre-Disaster Mitigation Program, Healthy Forests Restoration Act (HFRA) Community Wildfire Protection Plans, and the National Fire Plan, A Collaborative Approach for Reducing Wildland Fire Risks to Communities and the Environment 10-Year Comprehensive Strategy.

For the complete 150 page report, in PDF format, please email your request to NEWFC Secretary, Tim Coleman tcoleman@kettlerange.org