Hello Friends and Neighbors!
The Board has received notice that there has been a cougar spotted on Hemlock drinking from a resident's fountain. Nothing to panic about - they are here every year. Just keep an eye out and watch your pets and children.

(From Facebook post)

Preparation for Phase 2 of the Firewise/DNR shaded fuel break is now in process!  Over the next couple weeks packets will be mailed or taken to you by a Firewise Committee member, if your property is part of the Phase 2 project.  Phase 2 includes properties along the powerline and from the northeast corner of the park down to the east entrance.  These packets will contain contact information for our DNR foresters, a map of the project, an introduction letter, and a"Ponderosa Park Wildfire Risk Mitigation Project" form.  This form must be signed and sent to Ben Hartmann, our lead project forester.  Maps of the project will soon be on the bulletin boards.  We hope we have great participation in this project.  The recent fires remind us that we must be proactive in making Ponderosa Firewise, and making all of us safe!

Ponderosa Park Firewise reminds all park residents to be sure to sign up for emergency notifications from Klickitat County Emergency Management.  Just go to their website, and sign up for the new RAVE notification system.  You can put in multiple phone numbers and other important information.  We have heard from several people that they did not receive notification.  The system works well, but just be sure they have all your pertinent information . (During the recent fire I had our home phone in the system but not our cell phones, and we were out of town.  Our granddaughter  was at our home and got the loud evacuation messages even though she did not answer the call.)  Sign up! Be safe! Make us all safer!

At our April 29th Firewise Work Party a dedicated crew did a great job of fuel reduction at our fire station and on a nearby property to help a neighbor. Our group was fueled by donuts thanks to Don Cox. Thank you to everyone who pitched in! 

May is Wildfire Awareness Month.  Firewise is planning a work party, education day,and a community chipping day.  Chipping is paid for by Firewise, and is free to the property owner.  We are applying for a grant from Firewise USA to increase our funds for fuel reduction.  We encourage everyone to get their chipping piles ready by the end of April.  On the Ponderosa Park website you can submit a request for free chipping.  Just click on Firewise, and you will see Chipping Information,  and Chipping Request .  There is also a Volunteer Hours form that allows you to submit the hours you spend on your lot doing fuel reduction.  These hours help us qualify as a Firewise Community, and may help us secure grants.  Thank you for helping to keep us all safe!

Firewise Volunteer hours needed. The hours that you spend on creating defensible space and decreasing fuels on your property count toward our Firewise community goals, along with our work parties, education days, and DNR projects. Please use the data entry forms section on this website to submit your hours worked on Firewising your property. These efforts may also help when we try to qualify for grants or projects to make our community more safe from wildfires. You can submit hours worked this year, and hours can be accumulated over periods of time and submitted. The form shows start date and finish date. You can also submit hours and dollars spent hiring a contractor to do fuels reduction on your property. Thanks, and keep up the good work! 

The Board has become aware we have many people in the Park which do not have daily or weekly contact with someone outside of their home or need help with day to day living.  IF you would like to have someone call you to just make sure all is going well or need help, please fill out the following or to fill other needs.

YOU can stop or start this program at anytime.    Remember we are volunteers.