Mission
Our mission is to help control the spread of wildfire and reduce the risk of damage from wildfire; maintain forest health: promote the natural beauty of our forest and support habitat for our wildlife; and security: to protect the value of our homes by having a forested, not burnt, common area.

Current Projects
The Wilderness Area Common Area Committee is currently working on a three-phase project to reduce the risk of damage from wildfire on the Ranch. A fire mitigation and management plan was developed and approved by the Board in 2002. This plan contains reasonable fuel reduction measures that will reduce the risk of spread of fire and allow for ground-based fire fighting equipment to safely suppress wildfires under normal fire weather conditions. It is not intended nor should it be taken that any plan will work under extreme fire weather conditions. While the main goal of this plan is wildfire hazard reduction, the thinning effort is also effective at preventing extensive loss due to insects or disease.

Phase One was completed in 2003. The main objective of this phase was to thin along the roadways adjacent to our common area to assist with an escape route should there be a fire on the Ranch. We received a grant from Idaho Department of Lands, the Wildland Urban Interface Grant, to assist with the costs associated with this part of the project. It was a success by all measures, but, as stipulated by the grant, we must not rely on a one-time treatment.  The brush in the treated areas has already grown back , and the Common Area Committee has asked for funds in next year’s budget to re-treat those areas that need it in order to keep roadways clear and minimize the risk of fire.  Treatments costs should be significantly less in subsequent years.

We encourage private land owners to use this same treatment plan along their roadside property.

Phase Two was completed in 2006. This area was located below the “Middle Road” through the unplatted Common Area, south of Rush Creek road. It has been logged at least once in the past. There were approximately 19 acres that required treatment and we used a local contractor to commercially thin this area. The committee made a minor profit from this project for the Ranch. However, most of the income went to remove slash cleanup and to refurbish the road.

Phase Three is in the planning stage and involves approximately 120 acres of an unlogged portion of the Common Area located in the southwest portion of Rush Creek. The combination of an overstocked stand, ladder fuels, steep slopes, and an existing high fuel loading of dead and down material make this area susceptible to a high intensity, stand replacing fire. Treatment of this area will improve the stand vigor, improve growth, and make the stand less susceptible to insect and wild fire damage.  We have marked the trees that will be thinned and have put off this project for some time now due to the downturn of the timber market.  We have reviewed several thinning operations, but it appears that due to falling timber prices the only option we have left is a more conventional method.  We are currently seeking requests for proposal through our contractor Tarter, Stockton and Petzak (TSP) to treat this large area.  Should the market timber prices turn upward, we will be ready to take action, and could do so as early as this fall.  We do not take this endeavor lightly, and, while it may appear that we aren’t moving quickly, we are committed to being stewards of this forest.  We are seeking to make the best return on investment and make enough money to cover the project in its entirety, including slash cleanup and roadway refurbishing from the selected contractor’s activities.  And it would be nice if we could make a profit for WROA to use those funds to continue mitigating ladder fuels along roadways.

Other Ongoing Projects
Other projects we are currently working on are trail mapping and maintenance. We want to provide our residents with a map of various walking, hiking, and biking trails throughout the common area. We are also in the process of “marking” these trails with tree markers purchased from the Forest Service.

Completed Projects
We’ve also installed a playground set at the Rush Creek Hollow picnic area. All residents are welcome to use this area as it has several picnic tables.

We created a trail from the newspaper boxes down to the Mail Center along Rush Creek Road. However, it has grown over and we need to recreate it again.  We believe this would help with foot traffic for those who like to walk down to get their mail but don’t want to walk along the main roadway. Children could also use this trail to get to the bus stop.

Help for Residents to Reduce Risk from Wildfire
Another aspect of the Common Area Committee is a joint effort with Wilderness Ranch Fire Protection District to focus on residents' homes. The Ranch has joined the Firewise Communities program which puts us in touch with other communities around the country that are at risk from wildfire and are interested in ways to reduce those risks. Evaluations of risks around your home are carried out by our Firewise representative, Carrie Wiss, upon request. She provides free risk assessments and makes recommendations to assist you with ways to reduce the risk of losing your home to wildfire. For more information about Firewise, click here.

Click here to view the Home Defense Checklist.

Help for Residents to Reduce Risk from Wildfire
Have questions about this committee or its projects? Are you interested in helping with Committee activities and projects? Please contact the Common Area Committee Chair.