Property owners, we have free money to give you!

Act now or lose this opportunity! Sorry for the sleazy come-on, but it is actually true. The Fire Safe Council, as most of you know, has received government grants to assist property owners in the fire abatement of their properties. We were most fortunate in this latest round of grants to be awarded $650,000. (This is US Forest Service money, awarded through the state clearinghouse.) My breathless prose at the beginning has to do with an imposing fact-this could be our last grant. (I know I wrote in my last column that I would focus on the fire agencies in this one, but the situation demands otherwise.)

If you are reading this you almost certainly know from your other reading that government budgets, both state and federal, will be under enormous pressure the next several years. This is not inside information. Anyone who reads or hears news knows that funding in the future will decrease. In many ways our communities have been privileged to have received the money we have for fuel reduction. But we would have to be willfully blind to think that it will continue at present levels.

So what my Fire Safe colleagues and I are putting before you is this: If you need abatement work done, now is the time to do it. I don't mean raking a few needles. The work we can help you pay for is significant fuel reduction, such as taking out dead or dying trees, thinning overstocked live trees, and thinning thick, dangerous brush. (Don't worry; they will take the needles, too.) This is work that is appropriate for an experienced contractor, and through our grants we can now pay 75% of the contractor's price. You pay us 25%, and we don't cash the check until you are satisfied with the work. And if you are concerned that contractors are inflating their prices because of the grants, rest easy. All jobs are put out to competitive bid, so your charge of 25% is the lowest price offered by an experienced, licensed contractor. You just can't beat this deal.

Many residents have abated their properties, but if you have not gotten around to it, give us a call (659-6208). If you have had work done but think you might need more, give us a call. You might have had a tree die recently, or you may have finally decided to thin out that wall of manzanita on the perimeter, or trim those branches away from your deck. If you have a neighbor that needs work, please tell them about us. We have three very experienced project managers--Don Patterson, Pat Boss, and Mike Kellner--who are happy to talk with you about your property. You don't even have to be sure about what you want done before you call, since they will talk it over with you.

So this is really is an important opportunity. I deeply hope that in the next six months we can use every dollar to which we have access to make our homes safer. And I hope that everyone who lives here, full or part-time, will help us put this money to good use. Forgive the cliché, but this moment, (and the money), may not come again.