Jim Doran, Exec. Director

The Burnt Valley WUI - Categorical Exclusion

Stewardship Project Concept

Introduction: An area near the City of Chewelah has been identified as a priority site for a Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) project. A Categorical Exclusion (CE) within the NEPA process can be used for a WUI project with not more than 4,500 acres, total, and not more than 1,000 acres of mechanical treatment. The use of “Stewardship tools” can be utilized on this Burnt Valley WUI Project. The “stewardship tools” will be able to enhance the extent and quality of the work and provide for the planning funds for the next similar project. The Colville Community Forestry Coalition and the US Forest Service have also identified this location as an area for Community Fire Planning. The Coalition has already developed a protocol for the creation of Community Fire Plans.

Categorical Exclusions: This Memo will not go into depth regarding the use of Categorical Exclusions other than to identify the NEPA requirements for the minimal scientific reports. A soils evaluation, a cultural/archaeological analysis, and a biological/wildlife analysis and their reports need to be done for each CE. One of the possibilities allowed by the stewardship tools is the “retention of receipts” from merchantable materials that can be used for the planning of the next CE/Stewardship WUI Project (see below). Funding and personnel time have been a great concern of the Forest Service. The creation of this “fund” can provide the resources to hire private consultants to perform the necessary CE analyses, if in-house expertise is not available or funded.

Stewardship Tools: Several stewardship tools can be used to enhance both the quantity and quality of the work and also provide for partial funding for the next project. These are not all of the existing stewardship tools, but the ones that appear to be appropriate for the Burnt Valley Project.

1. Best Value Contracting/Requests for Proposals: Pre-bid meetings with contractors can identify “design” changes that can enhance the ecological and financial success of the project. This can be done through informal pre-bid meetings or by Requests for Proposals that describe the work that the contractor proposes. Under a Proposal the bidder describes the work to be done, the tools to be used and the skill level of the personnel. The FS can ask for modifications or clarifications any time prior to contract award. Additionally, the FS can award its contract based upon past performance and experience in addition to price.

2. Designation by Description/End Results Contracts: Considerable savings can be had when trees do not need to be painted. One method to accomplish this is to describe the end results desired. Often a sample plot is done in the field by the contractor so that minor adjustments as to the specific results can be made. Performance can be identified by the stumps.

3. Goods for Services: The contractor can be paid in traditionally “non-merchantable” material rather than with cash. This process requires a sorting at the landing (or sort yard) to provide the accountability of merchantable and chip material. On the other hand, a process known as Separating the Logger from the Log can be used. This process pays the contractor for the services of harvesting and removing the material (under a end results contract, for instance) and then the material is sold to the highest bidder.

4. Bundled Contracts: One contractor can be authorized to do multiple services under one contract and possibly with one entry. Efficiencies of administration and performance are enhanced. This may require contractor training which the Coalition sees as a vital role that it can provide.

5. Retention of Receipts: This tool allows the FS local forest to retain the funds derived from the stewardship project. The funds derived from one project can be used for multiple services on that project or they can be used on the next project. These funds can also be used for the “project preparation” or “planning” for the next project after the Burnt Valley CE Stewardship Project. The retained funds can also be used to create the Community Fire Plan adjacent to the Forest Service CE as part of the WUI project purpose or by use of the Wyden Amendment.

6. Third Party Monitoring: While the federal act creating stewardship authority does not require ground level monitoring, the Coalition and its partners fully intend to perform an on-the-ground monitoring of the Burnt Valley Project.

Community Collaboration: The Colville Community Forestry Coalition has continually provided the community collaboration component for stewardship and fire plan projects upon the Colville National Forest. We will continue to do so as these projects develop.

Reading materials describing the use of these stewardship tools can be found at:

1. Ecosystem Workforce Program – ewp.uoregon.edu Go to Publications, Complete List, Contracting Innovations & Stewardship, Tools. Look for publications entitled “Contract Definitions” and “A Survey of Innovative Contracting”.

2. The Watershed Center – watershedcenter.org/stewpilot/index.htm Look at the headings for “authorities” and for the several stewardship projects that have been done.

3. The Pinchot Institute – pinchot.org/pic/cbf/pilots.html Look at Congressional Authorization, and other sites.

4. USFS Region One – fs.fed.us/r1/forest_range/land_stewardship/lsc.htm Look at the pilots and follow your nose.

Dated: December 5, 2003