Wood River Valley Forest Health & Wildfire Resilience
The Wood River Valley Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project will reduce the significant wildfire threat to the main populous corridor in Blaine County, Idaho.
The Wood River Valley Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project will reduce the significant wildfire threat to the main populous corridor in Blaine County, Idaho. The project's fuel reduction and education efforts provide direct benefits to human safety, forest health and climate adaptation, economic preservation, non-native invasive plant reduction, and carbon capture.
Project objectives will be achieved by working across landownership boundaries to reduce wildfire risk through the removal of hazardous, diseased, and dead trees and regeneration of forest and sagebrush environments through native species plantings and non-native invasive plant species abatement.
The Wood River Valley Forest Health and Wildfire Resilience Project is a product of more than five years of robust community and interagency collaboration and encompasses approximately 30,000 acres of public, state, municipal, and private lands.
Communities within the project area include the cities of Bellevue, Hailey, Ketchum, Sun Valley, and unincorporated private land under Blaine County, Idaho jurisdiction. Housing ranges from high-density residential to 100 acre+ ranch and forest properties.
Sun Valley Ski Resort is located within the project boundary and is vital to the local and regional economy. While there is wealth within the county itself, the majority of the population represents working-class citizenship.
Hailey, which is the county seat and most populous town (pop. 8400), has approximately 27.3% of its residents reporting earnings below $25,000. 17.2% of the community is considered living below the poverty line, a significantly higher percentage than the median poverty rates for Idaho and the national average as a whole.
Northern aspects of the project area are dominated by mixed Douglas and subalpine fir forests intermingled with whitebark pine at the highest elevations. South facing slopes represent sagebrush-steppe ecosystems.
This proposal showcases a shared stewardship approach to wildfire mitigation, forest health improvement, habitat enhancement, and proactive climate adaption.
Partners: 5B Restoration Coalition, National Forest Foundation, Sun Valley Company, Cities of Ketchum, Sun Valley, and Hailey, Blaine County, Idaho Fish and Game, Idaho Department of Lands, and Bureau of Land Management
- FY 2022
- FY 2022 Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Project
- Total FY22 Funding Request: $643,975
