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39 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, March 21, 2005 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 17, 2004 BLM welcomes ideas for resource projects Possible projects range from restoring wildlife habitat to trail work By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune If you have a proposed project to improve everything from fish to forest habitat in the Bureau of Land Management’s Medford District, the agency would like to hear from you. The district is seeking proposals for its Resource Advisory Committee for the 2005 fiscal year, which begins Oct. 1. Created by the federal Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2000, the committee serves as an advisory group for projects proposed by local residents as well as BLM employees to benefit public lands and resources, according to district spokeswoman Karen Gillespie. The deadline for submitting a proposal is March 31. Jackson, Josephine, Klamath, Douglas and Curry counties are participating with the agency in what is commonly known as the federal "safety net" program, which continues through federal fiscal year 2006. Advertisement The safety net provides federal funds to counties that previously have relied on timber harvest receipts for a significant portion of their budgets. One goal of the program is to cut the ties between federal land timber revenues and counties. The project’s categories cover everything from improving forest health to restoring fish and wildlife habitat, from watershed restoration to trail and road removal or restoration. The majority in each of the five-member subcommittees of the 15-member advisory committee will have to agree to a project before it can move forward. District manager Tim Reuwsaat will have the final word on proposed projects. The committee is expected to complete its funding recommendations by September, Gillespie said. Since the program began four years ago, $7.2 million in projects have been funded in the local district and the Klamath Falls Resource Area. Those projects have included reducing fuel hazards on BLM woodlands near Jacksonville, identifying noxious weeds such as Scotch broom, improving coho salmon habitat on west Evans Creek and studying the technical and economic feasibility of harvesting small-diameter conifers. Anyone or any group with suggested projects is encouraged to discuss the proposal with a BLM specialist in the appropriate resource area to help the applicant submit a more complete application, Gillespie said. The contacts and the resource areas include: Kristi Mastrofini, 618-2384, Ashland Resource Area; Bob Budesa, 618-2287, Butte Falls Resource Area; Sherwood Tubman, 618-2399, Glendale Resource Area; and Jeanne Klein, 618-2220, Grants Pass Resource Area. More information, including project submission forms, is available by going on the Internet to: www.or.blm.gov/medford . Program coordinator Bill Freeland can be reached at 618-2417. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback Student Loan Consolidation Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Slippers Student Loans afsa teleconferencing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoo Advertisement s