[ODFW-News] Private lands damaged by wildfires eligible for wildlife habitat rehabilitation grants

[ODFW News]

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Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife


Contact:  Brad Wurfel (503) 947-6020        

Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us <BLOCKED::http://www.dfw.state.or.us/>
Fax: (503) 947-6009

               

 


For Immediate Release
Tuesday, August 30, 2005


 


Private lands damaged by wildfires eligible for wildlife habitat
rehabilitation grants


 

SALEM -  The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife's Access and Habitat
Program is stepping forward to help restore wildlife habitat on private
lands affected by this season's wildfires by offering grants for
reseeding projects. The A&H Program has earmarked $60,000 specifically
for reseeding project grants.

 

Although the grants are available to private landowners throughout the
state, it is anticipated that the need will be greatest in northeast
Oregon and in the Ontario, Burns and Klamath Falls areas.

 

The A&H Program provided nearly $140,000 in emergency reseeding grants
in 2003 to rehabilitate private timberlands burned by the extensive
wildfires Oregon experienced that year. That effort helped reseed 7,829
acres.

 

The largest reseeding effort was the Winter and Grizzly Fire
Rehabilitation Project near Summer Lake, where 3,539 acres of winter
deer range were reseeded. The project also helped prevent noxious
non-native plants from taking over the burned area.

 

To qualify for a 2005 grant, reseeding projects must be located entirely
on private lands containing critical wildlife habitats that have been
burned during this year's fire season. In addition, the proposed seed
mixture must be approved by the local ODFW biologist, and all equipment
needed to complete the project must be readily available. Projects must
be completed during fall 2005.

            

The A&H Program application process usually takes three to four months.
However, because the optimal time to reseed burned areas will be this
fall, a streamlined application review and approval process has been
established. The A&H Board will review the first round of project
proposals by conference call Sept. 8.

            

For more information or to apply for an emergency reseeding project
grant, landowners should call the nearest A&H Program regional
coordinator:

 

High Desert Region

            Larry Pecenka, Bend                            541-388-6444 

            Dan Gonzalez, Hines                             541-573-6582

 

Northeast Region

            Jon Paustian, La Grande                       541-963-2138 

 

Northwest Region

            Rick Boatner, Portland             503-621-3488

            Nancy Taylor, Corvallis                        541-757-4186 

 

Southwest Region

            Vince Oredson, Central Point               541-826-8774

 

The A&H Program is funded by a $2 surcharge on hunting licenses. Funds
raised by the program are distributed through grants to individual and
corporate landowners, conservation organizations, and others for
cooperative wildlife habitat improvement and hunter access projects
throughout the state

 

For additional information on the A&H Program, call program coordinator
Nick Myatt at 503-947-6087 or visit ODFW's Web site at
www.dfw.state.or.us/AH/.

 

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