BAILEY HEALTHY FORESTS INITIATIVE
For a Fire Adapted Community
Friday Firewise: Start now. Create an emergency plan with your family and assemble an emergency kit you can easily grab in case of wildfire or another disaster. Include nonperishable food, plenty of water (1 gallon per person for 3 days), extra clothing, a first aid kit, a battery-powered radio (with extra batteries), hand-crank flashlights, prescription medications, and any other items you may need. Find more information at http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit.
Thinking about a conservation easement? The Colorado State Forest Service is now accepting proposals. Completed proposals must be submitted by mail and received no later than 4 p.m. on July 25, 2014, for federal fiscal year 2016 funding. See the announcement:
FORT COLLINS – The Colorado State Forest Service is now accepting Forest Legacy Program proposals from Colorado landowners. The program authorizes the USDA Forest Service or the CSFS to purchase permanent conservation easements on private forestlands to protect environmentally important areas and prevent those lands from being converted to non-forest uses.
The program provides an opportunity for private landowners to retain ownership and management of their land, while receiving compensation for unrealized development rights.
Forestlands that contain important scenic, cultural, recreation and water resources, including fish and wildlife habitat and other ecological values, and that support traditional forest uses, will receive priority. Landowners who elect to participate in the program are required to follow a stewardship management plan approved by the CSFS. Activities consistent with the management plan, including timber harvesting, grazing, and recreation activities are permitted.
The Colorado State Forest Stewardship Coordinating Committee will evaluate proposals and recommend to the state forester those proposals that have sufficient merit to forward to the USDA Forest Service. Forwarded proposals will then compete at a regional level; those selected at the regional level will compete nationally for funding.
For additional information or to obtain an application packet, contact Naomi Marcus at 970-491-6303. Applications also are available under the “Funding Assistance” link at http://csfs.colostate.edu.
Completed proposals must be submitted by mail and received no later than 4 p.m. on July 25, 2014, for federal fiscal year 2016 funding.
I don’t think people understand that fire is absolutely an ecological factor that needs to be accepted. So let’s celebrate the natural occurrence and be compatible with that. Because control isn’t working for us in so many ways, it’s just screwing things up, giving us the false impression that somehow or other we don’t need to be inconvenienced by this factor of the planet that we live on.