Projects planned for federal land will receive funding vetted by County
ENTERPRISE – Wallowa County announces its upcoming review of grant applications funded via Title II of the Secure Rural Schools Act of 2000.
According to John Williams, Northeast Oregon Forest Regional Advisory Committee member, approximately $60,000 is available for projects on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest and about $18,000 is available for projects on the Umatilla National Forest this year.
Following several endangered species listings in the 1990s and the subsequent downturn of the timber industry on which communities like Wallowa County depended, Congress passed the Secure Rural Schools and Community Self Determination Act that includes funds under Title II: Special Projects on Federal Lands.
For almost 25 years, Title II has funded improving watering sites for livestock and wildlife, fencing streams and sensitive areas, running youth crews, repairing sections of forest roads and trails, treating noxious weeds and invasive grasses, as well as crucial data collection and monitoring.
Applications submitted by Wallowa County-based entities, including the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest’s Wallowa Mountains Office, Umatilla National Forest’s Pomeroy and Walla Walla districts, nonprofits, tribes, and local government agencies, are due to the county by April 5 at 5 p.m. A copy of the application and instructions are available here - https://www.co.wallowa.or.us/nrac/page/2024-title-ii-application-and-2024-title-ii-application-instructions or on the Wallowa County Natural Resource Advisory Committee webpage.
On April 9 at 8:30 a.m., the county’s Natural Resource Advisory Technical Committee will review submitted applications for “technical merit.” Applicants are encouraged to attend the meeting held at the Wallowa Resources’ conference room.
The county’s Natural Resource Advisory Standing Committee will then rank the projects at its 9 a.m. April 23 meeting, also held at Wallowa Resource’s conference room. The Standing Committee will then present its recommendations for funding to the Board of Commissioners at its May 1 meeting, 9 a.m. in the Courthouse’s Thornton Conference Room.