A message from your neighbor: Chris England

Colony Mountain Neighbors:

It seems awfully early in the season, but the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) has raised the fire threat to Moderate. We are in the middle of spring, yet fuels are already drying out and the threat of wildfire has begun. Although “campfires” are still allowed, general outdoor burning is suspended so you will need a permit to burn brush.

Those of us who have lived up here a while know what a struggle it can be creating and maintaining a “home ignition zone” around our homes. Brush, hazard trees, and other fire fuels can accumulate quickly, and I can attest that it’s physically demanding work to keep the ignition zone clear. The good news is the DNR and the US Forest Service (USFS) have programs in place to help homeowners pay for the cost of this work.

On Saturday, July 29 at 10:00 a.m. (location to be determined) we will be having a Firewise gathering.  An official from the DNR will be here to explain how the cost-sharing program works. If you have only recently moved to our community, an official from Skagit/Whatcom County Conservation District will be here as well to talk about creating a Firewise home and to offer a free property hazard evaluation.

You may recall that around the end of last year foresters surveyed several properties to evaluate forest health.  This was important because we need to create a new “Five-Year Action Plan” and “Hazard Evaluation Plan”. These documents, if prepared properly, will make us eligible to receive USFS grant money if we can show how it might benefit our community. The results of the survey will be discussed at the meeting. I need your input to create the new action plan for our neighborhood. This document describes what action we are planning to take to further prepare our community to resist wildfire.

For now, here are some things you might do to prepare:

• clean debris from your roofs and gutters
• rake and pile fire fuels (you’ll have to wait to burn them)
• ensure fire engines can get down your driveway and turn around
• ensure your address can be seen from the road
• pack a “go bag”
• mark your calendar for Saturday, July 29 at 10 a.m. for our annual Firewise gathering (we will send out a reminder in a couple of weeks prior to the event with the location).

A more detailed message was emailed out to the community today. Below is a summary, but is missing personal details such as Chris’ contact information. Please check your email inbox for the full message, or contact us at info@colonymtcc.org for more information. Thank you.

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A message from your Neighbor: Chris

Well neighbors, we managed to survive another hot dry summer without any wildfire in our community. For this I am grateful, because we still have a lot to do before fire shows up here.  Colony Mountain has been a Firewise Community for five years now, and we will be re-writing our action plan this year. While there are many good benefits for being a Firewise community, perhaps the most helpful is that it makes us eligible for Federal, State, and local grants. Grants that could help us prepare for wildfire. In the past the grants have been rather minuscule, a couple of hundred bucks to rent a chipper, for example. However beginning in 2022 The USDA Forest Service is making millions of dollars available to communities just like ours, so that we can get some real work done to reduce our wildfire risk.

Our new action plan will need to list projects that can be done to reduce our risk as a community. For example: Removing dead fuel, limbing trees, and removing hazardous trees within 100’ of each residence (if the property owner wishes). Perhaps building permanent fire breaks in logical locations within our forest. None of this has been determined, but we are working with the Skagit Conservation district, and the Washington State Department of Natural Resources to determine what projects would bring us the best results.

So, I am requesting two things from everyone:

First, I need to report how much effort we have made over the last year.  Please let me know approximately how many hours you have worked on your place preparing it to resist fire. Things like reducing brush near your home, replacing a cedar roof with a fire resistive roof, or removing hazardous trees. If you hired any of this work please estimate how much you paid. For example, I spent about three days piling and burning brush this spring, so I estimate I worked about 24 hours.

Secondly, a forester from Skagit Conservation would like to survey our forest for health and resiliency. Please let me know if you would allow him to walk on your property for this purpose.

Please write or call me [see email sent earlier today, or contact info@colonymtcc.org for Chris’ contact information].

I think it’s important to mention that no one in our community is required to participate in any Firewise project or action. Your property is private and your responsibility. Fire, however does not care about property lines so If we work together, we are all more likely to have a better result.

Thank you!

Chris