Consideration and Approval of Intergovernmental Agreement:  AZ Department of Forestry and Fire Management Cooperative Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) FT-16-0216-ASF-A1S

This IGA is a grant award for Forest Management planning to facilitate future forest treatments on two parcels: Picture Canyon Natural Area (City) and Brookbank Meadow (Navajo Nation).  Both parcels are within the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project (FWPP) area, and forest treatment work within each area is slated to be initiated in 2018.  Two stand-alone Plans will be developed – one for each parcel – and each Plan will adhere to State/National standards and format.    

This $8,000 grant award is for 100% of the total cost to prepare the two plans.  No city (or bond) match is required.  The budget appropriation for this grant is covered as part of the FWPP project in account number 407-09-425-3277-1-4290 with a FY2017 budget of $2,440,000.

Not on this specific issue/award.  Council was, however, engaged in the bond issue when it was approved to be presented to the voters (summer 2012), has approved other grant awards and contracts related to FWPP, and has been kept updated on issues throughout the overall effort.   

Three exist:
1)      Approve the grant award, permitting forest treatment planning to proceed thereby facilitating later forest treatment work.  This saves bond funds from having to be spent on this activity.
2)      Pass on the award and fund the effort entirely from bond funds.  This increases city costs and reduces bond funds for other FWPP required work or area.
3)      Reject the need for forest management planning in advance of any future forest treatment work.   This reduces transparency and complicates future treatment operations. 

Damage and loss of our forests from destructive wildfire and insect infestations are ever-present threats to our community.  Areas that have undergone proactive forest treatments (ie – thinning, debris disposal, and/or prescribed/managed fire) are not only healthier and more resilient to damaging agents, they also provide a barrier to the spread of these agents once they do become established.  Such treated areas enhance public safety, ensure infrastructure protection, and safe-guard community well-being.   Within our community and immediate area, the Woody Fire (2005), Hardy Fire (2010), and Slide Fire (2014) dramatically demonstrate the value of these treatments: the Schultz Fire (2010) shows what can happen when such treatments are not in-place.  

These two parcels were included in the bond "footprint", to include during presentations during the bond campaign leading-up to the election.   Regardless of location or casual factor, insect infestations are always difficult to manage.  Wildfires in either area are a challenge due to access, lack of on-site water supply, and other factors.  Completion of a Plan that facilitates future forest treatments will allow for public transparency and time to document current conditions, engage stakeholders, and identify applicable forest treatments to protect the parcels and reduce the incidence and severity of future insect and wildfire events. .  

Approving this IGA and accepting funds from the State allows the City to leverage the FWPP bond and save funds we would otherwise spend on this same forest planning activity.   

Multiple partners have been engaged in the FWPP effort, to include GFFP, Friends of the Rio, the NAU Ecological Restoration Institute, AZ Game & Fish, US Fish and Wildlife Service, AZ Dept of Forestry and Fire Management, and US Forest Service, We have also worked with both City Sustainability/Op[en Space and officials with the Navajo Nation. This effort will allow us to strengthen our working relationship both the the Picture Canyon Stakeholder Group and the Navajo Nation, and expand the overall outcome and influence of the FWPP effort.  Ultimately, successfully completing the resulting forest treatments will enhance protection of our forests, adjacent neighborhoods, and the community’s viewshed, while promoting the vigor, resiliency, and sustainability of the trees themselves. 

Inform – Following the 50 campaign events leading up to the bond election (Nov 2012), we have continued to work at keeping the community informed of what we are doing, and why.  The Project website (www.flagstaffwatershedprotection.org) is one way: numerous news stories have also been crafted and/or otherwise reported.  Numerous field trips have been conducted and various stakeholders, city staff, and Council members have been kept updated. 
 
Consult – We’ve continue to work with both AZ Game & Fish and US Fish & Wildlife Service to protect habitat and with adjacent neighborhoods/jurisdictions regarding access.  Various stakeholders are engaged as we work to protect cultural sites and other aspects deemed important to the site (this will become more pronounced as we undertake more detailed planning activities).  Regarding the Brookbank Meadow parcel, we are working with the USFS to ensure transportation routes and planned treatments blend seamlessly across the property boundary. 
 
Involve – We will engage volunteers to disseminate information on planned activities to site visitors.  As questions arise, we will also engage various Subject Matter Experts (SME’s), such as staff from NAU’s Ecological Restoration Institute, The Nature Conservancy, and/or Greater Flagstaff Forests Partnership to provide context and a more complete understanding of the need, and the work, itself.  Other City Staff, including those from Sustainability and Stormwater, will also be engaged.  Community members have also been hired as seasonal Fire Dept crew members and have been engaged in conducting some of the work itself. 
 
Empower – The planned forest treatments are part of a larger effort underway in our area and throughout northern AZ.  We and our many partners have been engaged for nearly two decades in this work, on various jurisdictions and site conditions, and have utilized a variety of prescriptions and approaches to ensure we have a full-suite of treatments across the greater landscape.  The planning effort to be funded by this award is based upon credible and proven science-based forest restoration and hazard fuel management standards and knowledge.  It will adhere to guidelines established in the Greater Flagstaff Area Community Wildfire Protection Plan (City & County - 2005), will identify forest treatments consistent with those designed and implemented by the Greater Flagstaff Forests Partnership (1999-present) and the City of Flagstaff Wildland Fire Management program (1998-present), will meet the goals of the State of AZ 20-Year Strategy (2007), and both the Four Forests Restoration Initiative's and the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project's Final Records of Decision (USFS - 2015).  Further, it will meet all requirements for cultural-site protection as outlined by the State Historic Preservation Office (Picture Canyon) and the Navajo Nation (Brookbank Meadow).  

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