A Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership Project.
Project duration: 2022-2024
Fire Adapted Bitterroot (FAB) seeks to address forest health and wildfire risk in three main areas of Ravalli County in Western Montana. This proposal will actively treat fuels on 1,350 acres on the east side of the valley in year 1 (2022), 3,250 acres in the southern valley in year 2 (2023), and 4,000 acres on the west side of the main valley in year 3 (2024). The desired outcome is to increase forest health and landscape resiliency, provide for public and firefighter safety, reduce fire risk to communities, improve wildlife habitat, contribute to community viability with forest products and jobs, and increase recreation opportunities - all while restoring fire to our fire dependent ecosystems. This proposal focuses on lower elevation fire adapted forest systems that are comprised of primarily overstocked ponderosa pine with Douglas-fire encroachments that have missed one or more fire return interval. The Bitterroot Valley has 300,920 priority area acres identified by the Montana Forest Action Plan and 5 of the top 10 Firesheds facing the most wildfire risk in Montana. (See Map 1 - Fire Adapted Bitterroot Fire Risk) This threat - combined with unprecedented growth and new home construction that extends to the boundary of the Bitterroot National Forest (BNF) - highlights why we need action across all ownerships. Proposed fuel reduction treatments (USFS + NRCS = 10,130 acres over 3 years), while not wall to wall, will address fuel loading and fire risk and take another critical step to increasing fire's role on the landscape. The project will also increase the success of future wildfire suppression operations to protect critical infrastructure that occur in or adjacent to these treated landscapes.
Partners
The USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and the U.S. Forest Service as well as other Federal, state, county, and local entities:
- Ravalli County Collaborative
- Montana Department of Natural Resources and Conservation (DNRC)
- Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks
- Confederated Salish & Kootenai Tribes (CSKT)
- Bitterroot Conservation District
- Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation
- Montana Wild Sheep Foundation
- Ravalli Resource Advisory Committee
Project Area
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Application
Applications are accepted on a continual basis, however, NRCS establishes application ranking dates for evaluation, ranking and approval of eligible applications. The application ranking date for the current ranking period is March 4, 2022. See the news release for more information or contact your local office.
Applicable Conservation Practices
- 106 Forest Management Plan
- 165 Forest Management Design and Implementation Activity
- 315 Herbaceous Weed Treatment
- 342 Critical Area Planting
- 383 Fuel Break
- 384 Woody Residue Treatment
- 666 Forest Stand Improvement
Detailed descriptions of these conservation practices can be found in the Field Office Technical Guide.
Payment Rates
Montana Payment Schedules
Montana is committed to reaching out to Historically Underserved individuals and groups. Historically Underserved participants may also receive higher payment rates in addition to being considered in high priority funding pools. Historically Underserved rates are listed as HU in the Practice Payment Schedule. See the Small & Limited and Beginning Farmers and Ranchers page for the NRCS definition of the Historically Underserved.
Ranking Criteria
NRCS uses the Conservation Assessment Ranking Tool (CART) for all application assessment and ranking. Learn more about CART.
Local Ranking Questions:
- Does the EQIP contract leverage the management of natural resources across land ownership (public-private) boundaries?
- EQIP project is located in an area that is adjacent to high priority projects on public land as identified in the selected Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Project proposal.
- EQIP project is located in an area that is within the same 12-digit hydrologic unit as high priority projects on public land as identified in the selected Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration Project proposal.
- Are planned practices located within the following proximity to previously completed or planned forest thinning/fuel reduction projects?
- Directly adjacent
- Located within half mile
- Does the project include forestry treatments that will address insect or disease issues within the stand?
- Does the project include forestry treatments that will be implemented within priority areas as identified by the Montana Forest Action Plan?
More Information
Contact
Hamilton Field Office
1709 N First St.
Hamilton, MT 59840-3112
Telephone: 406-361-6191
District Conservationist: Stacy Welling
