Yosemite West Property &
Homeowners, Inc.

2010 National Fire Plan Grant from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service

Grant Status: Completed

YWPHI has been awarded $304,830 provided by a National Fire Plan grant from the U.S.D.A. Forest Service through the California Fire Safe Council (FSC). The project is funded via the Cooperative Forestry Assistance, CFDA #10.664. The basis for this funding is for the support or stimulation of a public purpose under the Cooperative Forestry Assistance Act of 1978 as amended and the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Approporiations Act of 2009, PL 110-329.

Grant Number Total Project Cost Funding Awarded Matching Funds Provided % of Match to Total Project Cost Project Name Project Goals
10USFS-ES321 $304,830 $266,830 $38,000 * 13% Yosemite West Defensible Space & Shaded Fuel Break
  • Part I - Inside the Community: Create defensible space on 50% of the parcels (approximately 147 parcels) in Yosemite West or 55 acres of the 109 acres in Yosemite West Project Area YW-006.


  • Part II - Outside the Community: Create shaded fuel breaks on 56.12 acres on the western perimeter of Yosemite West in portions of Project Areas YW-001, YW-002, and YW-003 outside the proposed Highlands THP. The parcels to be treated are: APN 006-070-009 31.00 acres, APN 006-070-032 5.00 acres, APN 006-070-030 10.02 acres, and APN 006-070-023 10.10 acres.

The deadline to complete all aspects of the grant is October 1, 2011.

History of 2010 Grant

Date Timeline
February 2009 YWPHI submits a concept paper to the California Fire Safe Council.
May 2009 YWPHI submits application to the California Fire Safe Council and receives grant award.
August 21, 2009 YWPHI attends mandatory pre-award workshop by the California Fire Safe Council.
December 2009 YWPHI awaits receipt of grant award documents from the California Fire Safe Council. Planning will start once the grant award documents are signed.
January 2010 YWPHI and fiscal sponsor sign grant award documents from the California Fire Safe Council. Federal envirnomental and cultural compliance process underway.
May 2010 California Fire Safe Council informs us that review of the federal envirnomental and cultural compliance process for work inside the community (Part I) is complete and work can proceed in this area only. Federal cultural and environmental compliance for areas outside the community (Part II) is ongoing and not complete, so work cannot start outside the community.
June 2010 YWPHI sends project information to property owners:

  • Yosemite West Defensible Space Project Overview
  • Letter of Commitment for Participation in the Yosemite West Defensible Space Project
  • 2011 In-Kind Contribution form
    		•
    June 14, 2010 The defensible space crew starts on-the-ground work inside Yosemite West.
    August 9-20, 2010 Work on the defensible space project will halt for approximately two weeks. The crew will tentatively resume work inside Yosemite West at the end of August.
    September 2010 The defensible space crew resumed on-the-ground work inside Yosemite West and will continue until the work is done and/or the snow starts flying.
    September 30, 2010 The NPS fire archeology team conducts cultural surveys on project area outside the community.
    November 12, 2010 We completed on-the-ground work inside the community for this season, treating 71 parcels (25 houses and 46 vacant lots) and chipping approximately 2000 tons. See Participating Parcels Map below. The two-year combined participation total is 172 parcels or 60% of all parcels in Yosemite West. Work has stopped for winter and will resume in late spring 2011.
    November 16, 2010 The California Fire Safe Council informed us that the federal environmental and cultural resource compliance review of our project for work outside the community is successfully completed. No on-the-ground work in the project area outside the community was done in 2010; this work is tentatively scheduled to be done in summer 2011.
    March 2011 We mailed an information packet to 64 owners of 84 parcels who did not participate in the defensible space project in 2009 or 2010 with instructions on how to sign up to participate.
    May 2011 We put out a request for bids for work inside and outside the community, select contractors, and sign agreements for same.
    June 7, 2011 The contractor starts defensible space work inside the community.
    July 19, 2011 The contractor starts mastication for the shaded fuel break outside the community.
    July 26, 2011 The contractor adds a hand crew to the shaded fuel break work outside the community.
    July 27, 2011 The contractor completed on-the-ground defensible space work inside the community. This concludes all grant-funded chipping inside the community. The three-year participating parcels total 216 or 74% of all 294 parcels; 99 of 139 houses (71% of all houses) and 117 of 155 vacant lots (75% of all vacant lots). See the Project Outcomes and 2009-2011 Yosemite West Defensible Space Project map below.
    August 24, 2011 The contractor completes all on-the-ground work both inside and outside the community. Implementation of the project is successfully completed.
    October 11, 2011 We submitted the final progress report, photo monitoring and grant closeout report to the Fire Safe Council, and informed the project's fiscal sponsor of same.

    Project Outcomes

    Project Participation Overview at completion 8-24-2011 # Houses # Vacant Lots * Total # Parcels Goal
    Start of Project # Actual  2009 124 170 294
    New construction completed and occupied 15 -15 0
    End of Project # Actual 2011 139 155 294
    * includes 9 structures under construction and not completed nor occupied as of 7-31-2011
    2009 # Participants 58 43 101
    2010 # Participants 25 46 71
    Subtotal: 83 89 172
    2011 # Participants 16 28 44
    Total # 2009-2011 Participating Parcels **: 99 117 216 73.5%
    ** excludes 6 parcels where owners gave permission but not treated due to access issues    
    as % of Total Participating Parcels 46% 54% 100.0%
    as % of Total Parcels 34% 40% 73%
    as % of Total Houses 71%
    as % of Total Vacant Lots 75%
    2009 Grant Goals # Participants 45 45 90
    2010 Grant Goals # Participants 74 73 147
    Total 2009 & 2010 Grant Goals: 119 118 237 80.6%
    Grant Goal Exceeded / (Not Met) (20) (1) (21) -7.1%

    What the grant funding can help property owners do

    During spring 2011, we contacted property owners with details of the defensible space project with participation details. We will be targeting property owners who did not participate in 2009 or 2010. The fuel reduction to be conducted under the grant includes removing and chipping ladder fuels, coniferous trees less than 6 inches in diameter at breast height, and shrubs and trees near driveways and parking areas to create more vertical and horizontal spacing between shrubs and trees.

    What property owners need to do for themselves

    The grant funding cannot cover all the fuel reduction that needs to be done. Property owners need to address the following fuel reduction tasks with their own labor and/or at their own expense:

    Defensible Space Grants Overview
    Fuel Treatment Description2009 Grant Goal2009 Grant Actual2009 Grant Goal Exceeded2010 Grant GoalTotal Goal (Approximate)
    % parcels30%35%5%50%80%
    # parcels9010111147237
    # parcels with houses45581374119
    # vacant parcels4543(2)73118
    # acres363715591
    % acres30%34%4%50%80%

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    Copyright text © Yosemite West Property & Homeowners, Inc. 2003-2017. Copyright photographs © John Mock 2004-2017.
    All rights reserved. Unauthorized redistribution of this document is prohibited. Updated December 28, 2016.