Grangeville, ID.–The North Central Idaho Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) meeting is scheduled for November 4, 2010 beginning at 10:00 a.m. at the Potlatch Library in Potlatch, Idaho.
The 15-member RAC will have an estimated $960,000 to spend on projects for 2011, made available by Idaho, Clearwater, and Latah Counties through the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self-Determination Act of 2008. The RAC works closely with the Forest Service to recommend projects that will benefit Forest health, fish, wildlife, soils and watersheds; maintain roads, trails and infrastructure; or control noxious weeds on the Bitterroot, Clearwater, Nez Perce, Payette, Salmon, St. Joe and Wallowa National Forests or adjacent lands.
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September 27th, 2010
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Laura Smith at the North Central Idaho RAC reports that it’s that time again to be thinking about RAC projects. Please share this with your forest partners. Here is a link to a pre-proposal form (.doc). Rough draft pre-proposals are due to Laura electronically with a cc to Linda Hinds and Lisa Canaday on October 15. Do not include overhead. Resubmit proposals for multi-year funding.
After pre-proposals are received, they are added to the “Wish” List of FY 11 RAC projects. The list is reviewed by the Clearwater and Nez Perce Forest leadership team. RAC members will review the list at the November 4 meeting in Potlatch. At that meeting RAC members will select a final project proposal due date and agree on additional meeting dates in 2012 for presentations and recommendations for approval and funding.
If you have any questions, please call or email Laura at (208) 983-5143, lasmith@fs.fed.us.
Harlan Opdahl on the Lewis & Clark Trail
Sad news – Harlan Opdahl, past member of the North Central Idaho RAC and retired outfitter who was a dedicated forest partner, passed away August 29 at his Pierce home.
Services will be held on Saturday, September 11 @ 4:00 p.m. at the Timberline High School in Weippe.
This article by David Rauzi was published on August 18, 2010 in the Idaho County Free Press, Grangevile, Idaho.
With $1 million in federal funding now appropriated, planning work can begin on ecosystem restoration efforts as part of the Selway-Middle Fork Clearwater Project.
Some projects, such as road rehabilitation, have already been under way, according to Joe Hudson, ranger for the Moose Creek Ranger District, Nez Perce National Forest. With funding confirmed, strictly for monitoring and implementation efforts, the 180-day planning phase can begin by the forests “to put down the details to complete the projects we’ve suggested.”
A joint effort between the Clearwater Basin Collaborative and the Nez Perce and Clearwater national forests, the project entails restoration and maintenance of land and water ecological conditions across 1.4 million acres in the Selway and Middle Fork regions of the Clearwater.
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced the selection of restoration projects in nine states last Friday, Aug. 13, that promote healthier, safer and more productive public lands.
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The Moose Creek Ranger District, Nez Perce National Forest was the site for a group of 20+ North Central Idaho RAC members, Forest Service staff, and CBC members to join together on August 3 and 4 for a fieldtrip.
The first day we toured several RAC funded project sites such as the Coolwater and Indian Hill Roads. The group was treated to a couple nice photo opportunities of a buck and doe frolicking in the Selway River and a mother moose with youngster along the Selway Road.
Several folks spent the night at Three Rivers Resort at Lowell and shared a scrumptious dinner followed by a fireside chat.
On August 4, after a hearty breakfast, the group toured the Clear Creek portion of the proposed Selway-Middle Fork Clearwater Federal Land Restoration Act (FLRA) project area.
The weather was hot and the roads dusty, but the conversations were flowing, and the scenery was outstanding! Participants all agreed it was a very worthwhile trip!
For a followup on the status of the FLRA project, please see the Idaho County Free Press article by David Rauzi at a separate posting.
Field Trip Participants Enjoy a Beautiful August Day atop Lookout Butte
The North Central Idaho RAC and Clearwater Basin Collaborative Group are planning a field trip on August 3-4, 2010 to tour the Clear Creek project on the Moose Creek Ranger District, Nez Perce National Forest. This project is part of the Selway-Middle Fork Clearwater Project proposal, which was recently selected for recommendation for funding under the Forest Landscape Restoration Program.
The group will also tour several projects that are currently funded by the North Central Idaho RAC and discuss project proposals for future RAC funding.
For more information, contact RAC DFO Laura Smith at (208)983-5143.
Clean Slate Fencing Project leader Steve Hiebert, Salmon River Acting District Ranger Gary Torres and Laura Smith, Public Affairs Specialist, took a drive up to the project area last Friday to check out the awesome volunteer work being done by the National Smokejumper’s Association (NSA). The project was proposed to the North Central Idaho Resource Advisory Committee in 2010 and approved for Secure Rural Schools funding.
The National Smokejumper’s Association was founded by Art Jukkela in the late 90s. Jukkela noticed that many national forest trails weren’t being cleared – his vision was to round up some retired smokejumpers and volunteer to get the work done. In 1999, there were 18 NSA volunteers in Montana. Today, there are more than 500 members in the NSA and approximately 250 of those are actively volunteering their time in Montana and Idaho. They’ve cleared over 1000 miles of trail!
The 7 members of the NSA who volunteered on this project are: Dave Poncin – Grangeville, Idaho; Chuck Fricke – Florence, Montana; Rawhide Papritz – Auburn, Washington; Jerry Zumalt – Grangeville, Idaho; Dave Blakely – Missoula, Montana; Don Smith – Tacoma, Washington; and Bob Miller – Williamsport, Maryland. Lee Stone (employed with Heckman Ranches in White Bird, Idaho) worked three days on the project.
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RACs in Idaho have made their recommendations for the Title II funds and have completed their meetings for the season.
With the meetings done the action shifts to the field. Some RACs are planning field trips during the summer. Not all plans have firmed up but as information comes in we will update this website with on the upcoming field trips. For example, the North Central Idaho RAC is planning a joint RAC/Clearwater Basin Collaborative field trip August 3-4 to the Clear Creek Project area, a project recently submitted under the Collaborative Federal Lands Restoration Act.
As this website relaunches the timing comes when four of the six RACs report they are done with their meetings for 2010 until the next allocation of Title II funds are made available. Meetings were held in April and RACs were able to complete their work of making recommendations to the local forest managers on projects to use Title II funds.
The North Central Idaho RAC is tentatively planning a field trip in early August. Once plans are in place we will post the information. Other RACs also may have a summer field trip to view projects that have been implemented with Title II funds.
