Stimulus money funds hazardous fuels reduction projects

Pat Warkentin finds comfort in a government-funded program that should help protect his Bonners Ferry home in case of a forest fire.

“Twice (while living) in Colorado I almost lost my home to fire,” Warkentin said.

His Chokecherry Drive home in North Ridge is among several that could benefit from a $435,000 hazardous fuels reduction project under way in Boundary County, said Ken Nielsen, project manager for Inland Forest Management in Sandpoint.

Local contractors  are removing brush and thinning and pruning of trees on the North Bench in Bonners Ferry, Eastport, Moyie Springs and on the South Hill between Bonners Ferry High School and the city swimming pool, Nielsen said.

“Instead of fighting fires in the crowns (of trees), the fire will be on the ground,” he said.

The work is funded with economic stimulus money approved earlier this year by the federal government. The South Hill and North Bench projects will include about 50 acres each. The work on all projects is expected to be completed by August.

“There are no guarantees, but this increases the odds of your property surviving a wildland fire,” said Warkentin, a firefighter for 36 years and the fire chief in Bonners Ferry. “When they eliminate those ground fuels and park things out, it increases the odds dramatically.”

A government program known as the National Fire Plan funded similar projects for 300 to 400 residential properties in the county since 2003, Nielsen said. That funding ran out, but stimulus funds are being used this year.

Local contractors like Alan Flory, West Industries, Inland Vegetation Management, Richardson and Dirks Tree Care, and Northwest Tree and Reclamation are doing the work.

The North Bench project is part of the development of nine-mile fuel break that runs from Moyie Springs to the Boundary County Landfill on the North Hill.

Other than having to put up with more weeds, resident Bill Poulton believes removing brush from his North Ridge home will make things look and grow better. More importantly it will protect his home.

“We’re at the top of the ridge and fire heads up the hill,” Poulton said.