UPPER NORTH FORK PROJECT HAS RECEIVED A THIRD YEAR OF FUNDING BY THE CHIEFS’ JOINT LANDSCAPE RESTORATION PARTNERSHIP

Salmon-Challis National Forest has been successful in applying for and receiving these funds because of the existing partnerships and collaborative relationship that exist between our partners and neighbors, including: Salmon Valley Stewardship, Lemhi Forest Restoration Group, Lemhi County Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), North Fork Rural Fire Department, NRCS, Idaho Department of Lands (Community Fire & Planning,) Idaho Fish & Game; and Idaho Department of Highways.

Over the past two years, the North Fork District and NRCS have completed over 48 projects within the Upper North Fork Project area.  The District has specifically treated 803 acres with Joint Chiefs’ funding, 914 acres with Special Washington Office funding and 383 acres with Above Base funding, 500 acres of pile burning with fuels program base funding and 108 acres of low intensity broadcast burning with fuels program base funding.

This year the District will receive $435,800 of Joint Chiefs’ funding to thin and pile 12-14 additional projects for a total of 682 acres of high priority hazardous fuels reduction treatments.  Five-seven of these projects are near the confluence of Twin creek and the North Fork of the Salmon River and remaining seven projects are within/near the Lick creek drainage that is south Gibbonsville.

The District will also continue fifteen projects near Vine and State Creeks drainages and one project near Lost Trail Ski Resort.  All of these projects will also receive a follow up pile burn one year after completion to remove any activity fuels generated by these projects and may receive a low intensity under burn within several years to remove any additional untreated fuels that pose a safety concern to wildland fire response.

All of these treatment projects are essential in continuing landscape scale hazardous fuels reduction treatments to address wildfire risk to the Community of Gibbonsville and surrounding residents while meeting critical components of the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy at http://bit.ly/2j0rUxf (fire resilient landscapes, fire adapted communities, and safe effective wildfire response), which Joint Chiefs’ is directly tiered to.