Meeting called to order at 6:10 PM by Bill Greenwood,Chairperson for the Arizona Sustainable Forest Partnership.

Introductions by all that attended. Thirty in attendance.

Jim Anderson of the A/S Supervisors office in Springervillebriefed the USFS grants for economic action programs. These programs are called,Economic Action Programs and Economic Action Pilot Programs. Currentlythere is $3M available but suspect most will go to NM after their devastatingfires last summer. These are monies earmarked for community-based efforts, toexpand markets for value-added products of biomass being removed from theforest. Bottom-line; is your project or business going to help restore thevitality of the forests? How many acres will your effort treat in the forest? Hestressed that it is more than just creating jobs, the program is about makingforest communities safer by treating the forests. Hence, the applicant should beable to show linkage where the value-added product he is creating can be used byanother entity, for the greater good of the community. Additionally, Jimexplained that $1.1M is available for community action planning for communitiesto prepare for fighting fires or reduce the threat of fires. Communities thatshow economic benefits from a business and community plan could have a goodargument for a grant. The RFP are directed to the states, local communities,tribes and non-profit organizations. Developing partnerships with one of thosemakes for a very competitive grant application. He then distributed copies ofthe Request for Proposal (RFP) sheets. Additional copies, or more information,available at his office, phone #520/333-6370. RFP must be submitted by 15 May2001.

Jim also presented the audience with thelatest forest bid and sales sheets. He did some homework on the "math"of removing material from the forest and figures that it is an average of about$300 per acre paid by the USFS to treat the forests. Service contracts specifythat you remove the material from the forest and includes cost of disposal. Jimemphasized that every bid winner must have a "seasonal and migrant workers#," something that may take a while to obtain.

Herb Hopper, project director at the Little Colorado RiverPlateau RC&D, then presented information on a myriad of things. Items hecovered included;

The 4 Corners revolving loan fund. Goal is to increaseemployment and help diversify the local economies with specific focus on smalldiameter material that is harvested to restore forest health. Program durationis five years. Currently about $125K available for AZ. Loan amounts are $5 to$50K. Loan administrator is Don Dixon @ 520/639-3240. Loan applications willlikely commence in May.

The most recent document from the "fire summit"conducted in Jan.

A two page brief on the "shortcomings in written grantproposals."

Various emails that deal with cogeneration, biomassutilization and marketing.

A web site that supposedly has good information: http://ocs.fortlewis.edu/stewardship.

A second, even better regarded website, iswww.forestdirectory.com.

A flyer available from NRCS that shows how to construct soilerosion barriers from small diameter wood.

A breakout of the application received by the deadline datefor 4 Corners grant monies. Forty-nine applications received. Eleven of thosefrom AZ. From AZ, the following submitted applications; Grand Canyon ForestFoundation, Town of Eagar (x2), White Mt Apache, Indigenous CommunityEnterprises, Mt Top Wood Products, Northland Pioneer College, Heber-OvergaardFire District, Reed Logging, Northern AZ University, and City of Flagstaff.

Chairperson Greenwood then opened the meeting to address anyconcerns in the crowd.

One question asked about the likely size of the USFS grants.The answer was grants could be anywhere in the neighborhood of $50K to $100K.Questions about federal lien placed on equipment purchased with grant should bedirected to the Albuquerque office of the USFS. Likewise, any questions about"patent" concerns regarding a unique project should also be clarifiedwith Albuquerque.

Question about the Blue Ridge demonstration Project. EdCollins, District Ranger for Pinetop-Lakeside, explained that about $800K ofservice contracts are underway.

A question surfaced about the status of the marketing repfunded by federal money made available for the state. Herb explained that, tohis knowledge, the state has taken no action in this area. He also explainedthat his organizations, the Little Colorado River Plateau RC&D, was askingformally for the position to be located at their office in Holbrook.

A question made about efforts on White Mt Reservation to dealwith thinning forests and/or precluding devastating forest fires. We willexamine the possibility of getting someone from that area to brief us at thenext meeting.

Next meeting scheduled for the same location (Symposium Roomof the Ponderosa Center at the White Mt Campus of NPC in Show Low) on ThursdayApril 19, at 7 PM. The meeting concluded at 7:30 PM.

Likely items to discuss at the April meeting;

Flyers from the NAU Symposium in late April

Status of the marketing rep for our region

Brief from Grand Canyon Trust about their organization

Brief listing those that were successful in their grant application before the 4 Corners

Status of the TEPCO reload facility in Springerville

Status of White Mt Apache forests

Make available the attendance rosters andphone numbers of those that have attended these ASFP meetings.

ARIZONA SUSTAINABLE FOREST PARTNERSHIP

MONTHLY MEETING

Please join us at 7:00 PM (time change) in Room110 (room change) of the Ponderosa Center (same building) of the White Mt Campusof Northland Pioneer College,

Show Low, AZ

Thursday, April 19, 2001

Proposed Agenda