The Family Forest Fish Passage Program (FFFPP) just received $10 million as part of a jobs package that the legislature just funded and the Governor signed on Monday April 23rd. This money is to fund the Family Forest Fish Passage Program, a program that helps small forest landowners meet their RMAP requirements which is essentially correcting any fish passage barriers on their forest land roads. We typically receive on average $4 – $5 million per biennium although the last biennium we received $2 million. As a reference, during an average biennium we construct 50-60 projects so this $10 million should put 100-120 projects on the ground. Not sure how funding is going to go in upcoming rounds but I think it could be predicated on how well we do with this jobs package money so I’m going to be pushing pretty hard on my sponsors and engineers once we get rolling (which is essentially now).
The money needs to be spent over the next two construction seasons (2013-2014) and if we can get any out this year which is doubtful since it is so late. The program moves very fast even in normal years. If we identify a project as eligible in the next couple of months and it is of high priority we will build it next summer. So if you have any folks who might have projects or landowners they know that might fit and have projects getting them to us sooner rather than later will ensure them more of a chance of being included in the program. If they wait until mid-winter when they aren’t busy or have time to get to it then it will be too late and they will roll to the next year. We can do a lot of the work to qualify them and check for eligibility. We just need willing landowners to sign up or give us a call. And I’m looking for geographic diversity. We don’t have the capacity in any one area to do this many projects at once so I need a good spread around the state.
Also for those folks who might consider being sponsors the program is different than the typical SRFB program and process. It is much more streamlined in the application phase and more so in permitting. We do most of the legwork here, between DNR conducting visits to determine eligibility, WDFW doing barrier evaluations and prioritizing, and myself helping with application materials. And there is no Review Panel or back and forth on the application you are either in or not. The only thing that would delay a project is that it is not a high priority and we’ll let you know that once we have the project information in our hands. That doesn’t mean it is not in the program just that it is not going to get corrected right away.
I’m going to attach a couple of documents that will help answer any of you or your constituents questions and also the link to the DNR Small Forest Landowner Office where the program originates. It has a lot of information there including applications, forms, links and other useful information. It also has the landowner application which is currently mislabeled as the “Fish Passage Barrier Application” which should be fixed soon. I’m also going to have a fact sheet with specific names on it at each of the partnering agencies that folks can call with specific questions and know they are talking to the actual people who run the program. This will be coming soon as we’re still figuring things out and ramping up to what we think we need, and will be helpful to those of you out in the field making this happen.
http://www.dnr.wa.gov/BusinessPermits/Topics/SmallForestLandownerOffice/Pages/fp_sflo_fffpp.aspx
Let me know if you have any other thoughts and if there is any other information that would be helpful for yourself or prospective sponsors. And thank you for allowing me some time on your schedule to discuss the program.
Thanks.
Dave
Betsy Lyons
Estuary and Salmon Restoration Program Manager
WA Dept. of Fish and Wildlife
(360) 902-2572 (o)
(206) 708-3064 (m)