CWPP Specs - Essex County 2024.pdf

Virginia Department of Forestry

Quick Quote Specifications

Wildfire Community Protection Plan Development

Scope of Work: Produce a Wildfire Community Protection Plan (CWPP) for Essex County to include a general overview of the wildfire potential and threat for the county, detailed information on the specifically identified communities, recommendations for reducing the overall wildfire threat and GIS-based spatial information and maps to support the plan. The Plan will be used as part of a comprehensive program for wildfire hazard mitigation in Virginia’s higher risk woodland home communities.

A single all inclusive CWPP is be prepared for the county as a whole and should include specific information for the following communities in Essex County as part of this quote, as well as an overall assessment of the entire county; Battery, Bell Lane, Church Hill Road, Grandview, Gwynfield, Hustle, Lee Drive, Maple Valley Road, Mark Haven Beach, Portobago, Purkins, Rappahannock, Rappahannock River Estates, Richneck, River Estates, and River Oaks communities.

CWPP Defined: The CWPP is a collaborative product that has two objectives: to identify and prioritize hazardous fuels treatments that will protect the community and to recommend measures for reducing structural ignitability.

A CWPP is a required prerequisite under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) of 2003 to receive hazardous fuels reduction funding. The minimum requirements for a CWPP as described in the HFRA are:

• Collaboration: A CWPP must be collaboratively developed by local and state government representatives, in consultation with federal agencies and other interested parties. (For this quote, the Virginia Department of Forestry will be responsible to take the completed plan and then work with the involved community to develop the collaboration necessary for implementation.)

• Prioritized Fuel Reduction: A CWPP must identify and prioritize areas for hazardous fuel reduction treatments and recommend the types and methods of treatment that will protect one or more at-risk communities and essential infrastructure.

• Treatment of Structural Ignitability: A CWPP must recommend measures that homeowners and communities can take to reduce the ignitability of structures throughout the area addressed by the plan.

Minimum CWPP Requirements for the Purpose of this Request:

1) Complete an individual woodland home assessment for each home in the designated communities.

2) Complete a wildfire assessment of the community as a whole. The assessment should at a minimum include an evaluation of all information on the VDOF Form 140. The location of each community will need to be captured in a spatial (GIS) format compatible with

ArcGIS 9.3.

3) All of the community level assessment data fields for each completed assessment are to be combined in a single attribute table compatible with ArcGIS 9.3.

4) Complete a GIS-based county base map compatible with ArcGIS9.3. The base map should indicate the county boundaries and include the major roadways, waterways, incorporated areas and key county infrastructure. The following additional GIS-based layers will be developed as a supplemental component to the base map:

a. A “Communities” layer” which locates the primary communities of concern with the county. This layer should include the community assessment attribute table outlined in #3 above.

b. A “Wildland Fuels” layer which specifies the low, medium and high wildland fire potential areas throughout the entire county, based on fuels and topography.

c. A “Wildland Urban Interface” layer which provides a classification for the entire county area in terms of a low, medium or high rating in terms of potential threat for wildfire related damages.

d. A “Hazard Mitigation” layer which highlights the specific areas which should be targeted for wildland fire hazard mitigation projects.

e. A “Fire and EMS” layer identifying the locations of all paid and volunteer fire department and rescue squad/EMS stations in the county. The location of VDOF response resources in the county should also be included.

(Note: All maps and map layers should be in a spatial format compatible with ArcGIS

9.3.)

5) Identify the local and state resources available for wildfire response in the county.

6) Assemble all prepared material into a comprehensive written community protection plan that includes the following:

a. A general overview and narrative description of the counties overall landscape as it related to the wildland fire threat. The plan will need to include a detailed discussion of the wildland fuels, county topography and general weather influences on wildfire activity in the county.

b. A history of the past wildfire occurrence in the county and the potential for future wildfire related damages.

c. A general description of the structural fire resources in the county including a general assessment of their location in relation to the potential for wildland fire suppression needs.

d. A written description of each of the identified communities themselves. The narrative should describe the each community, its history and level of development, the current situation in regards to a threat from wildfire, an evaluation of the potential for wildfire damage and specific recommendations for each community to reduce its overall threat for wildfire damage.

e. A description of the specific wildland fuel type(s) present in each community and other land form elements contributing to the overall wildfire hazard.

f. Locally available water sources to support fire control operations. This can either be at the community or county level. Any sites identified through the assessment as a potential rural water supply should be highlight in the report.

g. An individual community level evaluation of overall structural ignitability should be included along with specific recommendations for improvement.

h. Recommendations must be made for wildfire hazard mitigation projects and wildfire prevention at the community and county levels.

7) Provide recommendations for wildfire hazard mitigation projects that will help to reduce the overall wildfire risk for all identified communities in the county.

8) Provide information on the Firewise Communities USA program including the steps necessary for the community to be recognized.

9) Printed paper maps of the county base layer along with each of the 5 identified layer maps will be included at the end of the plan as an appendix. The written narrative should reference this map information throughout the plan

One completed plan draft is to be submitted to the VDOF project coordinator - John Miller or his designee. The plan draft will be reviewed for scope and content and to ensure that the product meets the intent of the program. The contractor agrees to make all draft copy edits requested by the VDOF project coordinator prior to producing the final plan documents.

Three copies of the completed county CWPP are to be submitted to the VDOF for project completion, following the review and edits to the draft document. All three copies of each community plan are to be professionally bound and shall include all original documents and printed maps (no photocopies).

All ArcGIS9.3 files, tabular and spatial information created as a part of this project are to be submitted via electronic media to the VDOF at the conclusion of the project before final payment is made.

All project related information, assessments and electronic media created for this project remains the sole property of the Virginia Department of Forestry and cannot be shared without express written VDOF approval.

Payment in full will be tendered upon completion and presentation of the completed plan, maps and electronic media.

Questions should be directed to the VDOF Project Coordinator – John Miller at 434-962-3484

Bid Submission Instructions:

Please submit an extended, lump sum bid price on the pricing grid provided within the solicitation.

If you have any difficulties submitting a bid, please reach out to eVA customer care at (866) 289-