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Fire fuel reduction money approved Southern Oregon �interfaces� included By Tony Boom Southern Oregon towns and rural areas with homes near fire-prone public lands have been included in a program that will allocate $240 million nationwide to reduce fuels. Applegate, Ashland, Cave Junction, Merlin, Murphy, Ruch, Sams Valley, Shady Cove and Williams are on the list, which is not yet finished. Communities where fuel-reduction programs are under way or planned for the fiscal year ending Sept. 30 are included. The money is part of a $1.6 billion emergency wildfire package approved by Congress after the 2000 fire season. Oregon has 293 communities on the list, most in Eastern and Southern Oregon. Fuel-reduction programs totaling $3.2 million are planned by the Medford district of the Bureau of Land Management this year. But the agency would welcome additional funds, said Tom Murphy, district fire management officer. "Any kind of money that comes down for us will really complement the efforts we�ve already undertaken," said Murphy. "We could complete what we�ve started." BLM will reduce fire hazards in the Applegate, near Ruch and in the Thompson Creek drainage, said Murphy. Projects are proposed in Williams but not yet started. "We would be in a position to get the money and utilize it because we have the ability to put it under contract," explained Murphy. "All treatment is done by private contractors." The list was compiled by comparing fire risk data with maps of populated areas. It is the first specific survey of the state�s "urban wildland interface," the land where residences and fire-prone wild areas meet. Jim Wolf, fire prevention planner with Oregon Department of Forestry in Medford, coordinated the multi-agency listing effort for the state. Wolf says federal agencies are still working on a process to allocate the money. In Ashland, where the U.S. Forest Service is working on a fire hazard reduction project for the city�s watershed, ranger Linda Duffy said she had asked for $800,000 to implement the plan. "I haven�t seen (a report on the new program). I�m guessing that they are talking about the same kind of money we have requested," said Duffy. Implementing the agency�s Ashland Watershed Protection Project eventually could cost $1.8 million to $2.1 million. Duffy said additional money beyond what she requested would not speed up the process. "Just throwing more money at it doesn�t make it faster," said Duffy. "But having money in reserve puts us on a ... clear and direct path so that we can go ahead and can give assurance to contractors that they�ll have money to do the projects down the road." In addition to money for public agencies, another federal program could supply $17 million to 17 western states for projects on private lands, said Wolf. Oregon may get $750,000 for cost-share projects. Funding for shared fuel reduction "will complete the picture on private lands that are adjacent to BLM land," said Murphy. Reach Ashland bureau reporter Tony Boom at 482-4651, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2000 Mail Tribune, Inc.