Consideration and Approval of Contract:  Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project Intergovernmental Agreement No. 17-1 between City of Flagstaff and Arizona Department of Forestry and Fire Management.

Several State land parcels were included within the voter-approved FWPP area, including four in the City's southeast side.  To meet FWPP objectives, areas within all these parcels require various forest treatment practices and intensity of effort.  In 2015, 150 acres in one of these parcels was treated under FWPP IGA No. 15-1 between the City and DFFM.  The proposed FWPP IGA No. 17-1 allows up to 1,000 additional acres of treatment to occur in these four parcels over a four-year period (FY17-21), with total cost to be evenly split between the City and DFFM. 

Total cost for the 1,000 acres of treatment under FWPP IGA 17-1 is projected to cost $640,000.  Over the four-year lifespan of the IGA, the TOTAL Not-To-Exceed City cost to implement these treatments is $320,000, to be matched by an equal Not-To-Exceed amount from DFFM of $320,000.  City funding is via the FWPP Bond and/or grants awarded: DFFM funding is per annual State appropriations.  Over the life-span of the IGA, the City will only match whatever the State Legislature provides to DFFM and they in-turn allocate/direct to this effort.  

This grant award, and the leverage it provides to further the FWPP, meets the following -

COUNCIL GOALS:
2) Ensure Flagstaff has a long-term water supply for current and future needs
3) Provide sustainable and equitable public facilities, services, and infrastructure systems in an efficient and effective manner to serve all population areas and demographics
7) Address key issues and processes related to the implementation of the Regional Plan
11) Ensure that we are as prepared as possible for extreme weather events.
 
REGIONAL PLAN:
Environmental Planning & Conservation – Vision for the Future:  In 2013, the long-term health and viability of our natural resource environment is maintained through strategic planning for resource conservation and protection.
Policy E&C.3.3 – Invest in forest health and watershed protection measures.
Policy E&C.6.1 – Encourage public awareness that the region’s ponderosa pine forest is a fire-dependent ecosystem and strive to restore more natural and sustainable forest composition, structure, and processes.
Policy E&C.6.3 – Promote protection, conservation, and ecological restoration of the region’s diverse ecosystem type and associated animals.
Policy E&C.6.6 – Support collaborative efforts for forest health initiatives or practices, such as the Four Forest Restoration Initiative (4FRI), to support healthy forests and protect our water system.
Policy E&C.10.2 – Protect, conserve, and when possible, enhance and restore wildlife habitat on public land.

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 numerous grant awards and contracts related to FWPP, approved FWPP IGA 15-1 (Jan 5, 2015) which permitted the 150-acres of forest treatments on one of the parcels, and has been kept updated on issues-and-status throughout the overall effort.  

Three exist:

1. Approve FWPP IGA 17-1, permitting forest treatment work to proceed as planned.  This reduces Bond expenses on these parcels by 50% for the planned work. 
2. Pass on FWPP IGA 17-1, and carry-out the planned work using 100% Bond funds.  This reduces Bond funds for other FWPP required work, in these four parcels or elsewhere.
3. Reject the need for forest treatments in these parcels.  This leaves the City's southeast side vulnerable to damage/loss and voter desire/direction as identified in the passage of the Bond (74% approval) unfulfilled.

Damage and loss of our forests from destructive wildfire, and subsequent damaging floods, are ever-present threats to our community.  Areas that have undergone proactive forest treatments (ie – thinning, debris disposal, and/or prescribed/managed fire) are healthier and more resilient to damage/loss, and are better able to act as a barrier to the spread of fire once it becomes established elsewhere and moves into these treated areas.  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. Such treated areas enhance public safety, ensure infrastructure protection, and safe-guard community well-being

These State land parcels, the 150-acres of forest treatments that has been completed under FWPP IGA 15-1, and the treatments planned under FWPP IGA 17-1, were all identified during the Bond campaign as part of the overall goal, area, and effort that would occur with passage of the measure (Q-405, Nov 2012 election).  Regardless of location or casual factor, wildfires present challenges due to access, lack of on-site water supply, adjacent neighborhoods, evacuation requirements, available response resources, and other factors. While the fire may be the triggering event, post-fire flooding events, both at the source and downstream, can be devastating to areas and parties not threatened by the fire itself.  Completion of forest treatments have proven highly effective in reducing occurrence and severity of these events. 

To-date, and since passage of the FWPP Bond in Nov 2012, DFFM has provided just over $1M in grant awards and direct labor that have significantly contributed to the success of the Bond.  These funds have been utilized to plan and/or complete forest treatments in the Equestrian Estates area, Observatory Mesa and Picture Canyon Natural Areaa, and on the parcels included in FWPP IGA 17-1.  

Over the past few years, we've detected and suppressed several suspicious fires in the parcels identified in FWPP IGA 17-1. No suspects have been located, and the threat that a future fire in this area escalates into something larger and more damaging exists.  FWPP IGA 17-1 will allow for completion of forest treatments that will protect adjacent neighborhoods, recreational opportunities, and wildlife habitat, while promoting forest resiliency and sustainability.

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 why we must act, what we are doing, and where it is occurring. The Project website (www.flagstaffwatershedprotection.org) is one way: Project-wide, numerous news stories have also been crafted and/or otherwise reported, and both impromptu and announced field trips have been conducted.  City staff has interacted with numerous individuals in the adjacent neighborhoods.  State land is not public land, so contacts with the public on the parcels themselves has been somewhat limited.    
 
Consult – We’ve worked with DFFM on project design and operations, and have taken into account adjacent neighborhood issues and concerns.  The US Fish & Wildlife Service and AZ Game & Fish have been consulted regarding wildlife issues.    
 
Involve – Although nothing to date has yet occurred, we intend to engage future NAU student interns in pre-and-post inventory efforts and monitoring projects.  Community members have been, and will continue to be, hired as seasonal Fire Dept crew members and will thus engage directly in 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 work to be undertaken under FWPP IGA 17-1 is based upon credible and proven science-based forest restoration and hazard fuel management standards and knowledge.  It adheres to guidelines established in the Greater Flagstaff Area Community Wildfire Protection Plan (City & County - 2005), is consistent with forest treatments designed and implemented by the Greater Flagstaff Forests Partnership (1999-present) and the City of Flagstaff Wildland Fire Management program (1998-present), meets the goals of the State of AZ 20-Year Strategy (2007), and is consistent with the conditions and necessary actions identified in both the Four Forests Restoration Initiative and the Flagstaff Watershed Protection Project Final Records of Decision (USFS - 2015).