Local organizations are teaming up to create a fire-resilient creek corridor
Moab government officials, organizations, and nonprofits have received a $5.2 million grant from the US Department of Agriculture to protect Moab homes, businesses and infrastructure from catastrophic wildfires.
Rim to Rim Restoration submitted a proposal to be considered for the Community Wildfire Defense Grant program in collaboration with Moab Valley Fire District, the City of Moab, Grand County and several nonprofits.
“When we submitted it in late October, I thought it was a shot in the dark,” said Kara Dohrenwend, director of Rim to Rim Restoration. “I am most excited about not only improving the fire resiliency of our community but actively working with all these agencies, as well as the community at large.”
The Community Wildfire Defense Grant helps communities in wildland-urban areas become fire-adapted, create and maintain resilient landscapes and ensure safe and effective wildfire response. Funding goals include implementing hazardous fuel reduction projects, increasing the number of fire breaks and improving community wildfire preparation.
Dohrenwend explained that Rim to Rim Restoration and their partners will focus on 7.2 miles of creek corridors that are currently home to many invasive and highly flammable plant species, including tamarisk, Russian olive and Ravenna grass. Past wildfires in this corridor have impacted neighborhoods, destroyed homes and displaced residents.
“The Millcreek and Pack Creek corridors are the areas in Moab Valley with the heaviest concentration of hazardous fuels and have the highest potential for dangerous wildfires,” said Clark Maughan, wildland fire coordinator at Moab Valley Fire District. “The grant will allow us to take a collaborative approach in piecing together the hazardous fuels reduction work that’s been completed in the creeks over the last 20 years, making our community a safer place from wildfire.”
Every partner is committed to helping on projects in the creek corridors, including creating fire breaks to connect over 1,000 acres of shaded fuels breaks along the creek corridors and improve breaks in the Matheson Wetlands.
As projects involving devegetation commence, Rim to Rim Restoration is also preparing to revegetate the project area, as a healthy creek-side corridor is less flammable, reducing the potential for fire to travel through the valley via the creek corridor. As an added bonus, these projects will also help the creek be better equipped to handle flooding.
“Ideally the final outcome will be a creek corridor and wetlands that are dominated by shaded fuel breaks,” Dohrenwend said. “Think open areas with a cottonwood overstory with native shrubs, grasses and wildflowers beneath them . . . with space and grasses that are green in summer rather than brown.”
As these organizations work toward this goal, they are asking the local community for aid in implementing and maintaining these projects. Part of the grant money is allocated for community outreach and engagement to help teach citizens about what they can do to help.
Dohrenwend explained that the organizations will ensure “residents have the tools and knowledge of the best and easiest ways to ensure their property is protected, and that their property is not a hazard to neighbors.”
Maughn added, “The property owners are a big part of us being successful with this large-scale project. Hazardous fuels removal is rarely a ‘one and done,’ it’s a process that involves follow-up and maintenance as vegetation grows. We’ll really need the property owners to take the lead on the maintenance part of this project.”
Dohrenwend expects that by early next year, they will begin public outreach and ask the community for input, feedback and suggestions.
