Wilderness Ranch, ID receives 15-year recognition award in ceremony.
Wilderness Ranch, ID receives 15-year recognition award in ceremony
(From left) Sharon, Simons (Chair, Wilderness Ranch Firewise Community Board), Brett VanPaepeghem (IDFW South Project Manager) and Carrie Wiss (Wilderness Ranch resident and former IDFW Board member) accept a 15-year recognition award from Firewise Communities/USA.
Last fall, the National Fire Protection Association’s (NFPA) Wildfire Division announced that nine of the inaugural twelve communities to participate in its national Firewise Communities/USA program have completed their fifteenth year of participation.
Wilderness Ranch, ID is one of this elite group of forward thinking communities and was recognized for their accomplishments in an award ceremony this spring.
Wilderness Ranch, ID, is a development of approximately 225 homes that lies north of Boise, Idaho. Residents enjoy a community common area of approximately 400 acres and support their own volunteer fire department as well as a community-owned water system on a community well. They were as Idaho’s first Firewise Community and have partnered with the Student Conservation Association’s Fire Education Corps, and Idaho Firewise on various projects. Activities have included home wildfire evaluations and Fall Cleanup/Fuel Reduction Days where residents were given the opportunity to dump branches, pine needles and other wood-based fuels removed from their property at a single location.
Reaching the 15-year milestone speaks volumes about the dedication and determination residents have in completing mitigation projects within commonly-owned areas and in their property’s home ignition zones. As NFPA/Idaho Firewise Communities/USA Cathy Prudhomme stated in her blog last fall, “These communities were true pioneers, they recognized the importance of neighbors working together to reduce their wildfire risks and they paved the path for today’s more than 1,383 participating communities throughout the U.S. Over the past 15-years, the nine communities have collectively contributed more than $5.9 million in risk reduction activities; with more than 15,000 full and part residents living within their boundaries. Each works closely with their state forestry agency and local fire department to maximize efforts that increase their home’s chances of surviving a wildfire.”