County Fighting to Keep Grant Money

Tuesday, January 10th 2012 - The entire Oregon delegation in Washington, D.C. is asking the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) to drop the request for funding reimbursement from Deschutes County. FEMA wants the money reimbursed because the County allowed private landowners to clear fire-prone materials from their property.

Deschutes County Commissioner Alan Unger says County officials believe FEMA's case is weak because the County had continually reported what was happening: “We think that Deschutes County was reporting things correctly and showing FEMA what our plan was. And we're a little upset that at the 9th hour of this grant, they're now changing their minds on what's acceptable and not in the big picture." Unger says the County has been very aggressive in addressing the Wildland Urban Interface, and coming up with creative ideas for people to clean areas around their homes, making the entire County safer from wild fires. Commissioner Tammy Baney is in Washington to meet with FEMA officials Wednesday to present the County’s' case for allowing private landowners fire suppression work. She says it allows the county to get more "bang for their buck" with the $6.7 million in federal funds.

KBND - http://bit.ly/xXRMnr