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City of Missoula, Montana Item to be Referred to City Council Committee Committee: Conservation Committee Item: Adopt a Resolution to authorize the Mayor to sign all documents related to the grant to utilize $125,00 for the Mountain Pine Beetle Project. Date: 4-2-2010 Prepared by: Kathy Mehring Initiated by: Morgan Valliant Action Required: Adopt a resolution accepting a $125,000 DNRC grant to manage Mountain Pine Beetle and authorize the Mayor to sign all documents such as pruning, chipping, verbenome packets, an chipper procurement, cutting, trimming, tree treatment to support efforts to minimize impacts in the Missoula Valley. Recommended Motion: Motion to adopt a resolution to authorize the Mayor to sign for all documents to utilize the $125,000 DNRC grant. Timeline: Referral to committee: April 8, 2010 Committee discussion: April 14, 2010 Council acts to set hearing: April 19, 2010 Background and Alternatives Explored: The city of Missoula owns roughly 3600 ac. of open space properties designated and managed as natural areas. While the majority of these properties are dominated by grasslands roughly 225ac. on Mt. Jumbo and in the Rattlesnake Greenway are covered by ponderosa pine forests. Additionally, 184ac. on Missoula's valley floor and in the Missoula's south hills contain stands of ponderosa pine. On Mt. Jumbo and in the Rattlesnake greenbelt, and to a lesser extent in Missoula's south hills, almost a century of fire prevention has produced a dense understory of young pine thickets. A fall 2009 inventory identified pockets of Mountain Pine Beetle (MPB) across much of this acreage. It is the goal of the Missoula Parks and Recreation Department to proactively address MPB infestations and address forest health across all City- owned parks and open space. This proposal outlines a plan to inventory (255 ac.) and selectively thin (192.5 ac.) ponderosa pine forests across City of Missoula-owned parkland and open space. Missoula Parks Department requests $125,000 from the DNRC and will provide $125,128 in matching funds to complete this project. Table 1, IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS: includes all cost for Park's labor, DNRC staff labor, volunteer labor, materials, equipment operation/maintenance, equipment purchase and cash in hand. Except for winter 2009-2010 inventories and thinning/removals, all work will be completed between March 2010 and March 2013. ---PAGE BREAK--- Acres Labor cost/ac. Equipment operation & maintenance cost TOTAL Winter 2009-10 inventory 184 $15 $200 $2,960 Winter 2009-10 Thinning/Removals 20 $705 $4007 $18,107 Inventory to be complete by City of Msla. Staff 71 $15 $75 $1,140 Thinning to be completed by City of Msla. Staff 55 $705 $11,621 $50,396 Thinning volunteered by Mt. Conservation Corps 30 $334 $2405 $12,425 Private Donations for Thinning & Burning on Jumbo Saddle 9 $1333.33 $0 $12,000 DNRC Staff Salary for Consultations $3,600 Msla. City Fire Contribution for purchase of a new chipper $20,000 Purchase of Verbenone packets to protect Legacy trees $4,500 TOTAL IN-KIND CONTRIBUTIONS: $125,128 All forest thinning described in Table 1 will be in areas which are easily accessible for vehicles and equipment. A significant portion of the thinning to be completed on Mt. Jumbo is on adverse terrain inaccessible to equipment. Eighty percent of the grant funds we are requesting for this project will be used for contracting private forestry crews to thin, pile and burn ponderosa pine on adverse terrain (Table With the recent closures of local mills that purchased and processed small diameter trees, disposal of waste from thinning projects has become a problem. The Missoula City Fire Department has secured $20,000 for the purchase of a community chipper for the Missoula Valley. Purchase of this chipper would allow the City of Missoula to aggressively address MPB infestations and wildfire danger within the wildland urban interface. We are requesting $20,000 in grant funds to purchase this chipper (Table The Missoula Parks Department is also requesting $2950 in supplies and materials to cover the cost of two chainsaws with personal protective equipment ($1450) and purchase of a limited number of Verbenone packets ($1500). Table 2, GRANT FUNDS: includes all cost for contracted labor, equipment purchase and supplies. Work will be completed between March 2010 and March 2013. Cost/ac. Acres treated TOTAL Contracted Labor $1,300 78.5 $102,050 1/2 cost of a new Chipper $20,000 Supplies & Materials $2,950 TOTAL GRANT REQUEST: $125,000 Financial Implications: The project is funded by the DNRC grant with a matching of in-kind contributions of $125,128. Attachments: MPB Grant Resolution