The current PPOA board has posted an apology for the cancelled meeting on Saturday, August 10, 2024.  View the apology by clicking here.

Good Firewise News!  Our landowner assistance forester, Dustin Mutch, has let us know that the work on our phase 2 perimeter project will start this fall.  Anyone in phase 2 that did not yet sign up now has until August 23rd to do so.  In addition, DNR will also include in this project any properties in  phase 3, if there are enough signups by phase 3 property owners, and the consent forms are signed by August 23, 2024.  Letters with consent forms, maps, and Dustin's contact information will be sent out in the next few days to eligible phase 3 property owners. Contact Dustin with questions at 509-859-6437, or dustin.mutch@dnr.wa.gov.  Remember that all work is done at no cost to the property owner. The forester is available to discuss how the work will be done before the project begins.  This is a great opportunity to make Ponderosa Park safer from wildfire!  Sign up!
 
 

The Firewise Work Party was a great success! We had a big crew and some younger workers! (Something we oldies have been saying we needed for some time now.) Thank you to everyone who helped, and to Don for fueling us with the delicious donuts! Thank you also to all those who are sprucing up their properties before fire season is in full gear. There are lots of piles for the chipper! Keep up the good work, and we will all be safer!  And thanks too to Pete B. for the beautiful Firewise Work Party sign!

 

Ponderosa Firewise has been awarded a $4,000 DNR reimbursement grant! This means that we can be reimbursed up to $4,000 for monies spent from our Firewise funds on chipping and large dead tree removal, if the work is done before the cut off date in June, 2024. So get those chipping piles ready. Make piles accessible to the road, and stack branches butts out for the chipper.
Don't forget to go to the Firewise section of this site and submit a chipping request.  And if you have large dead hazard trees that are near the road or near structures, call Tobiah Israel at 1-509-773-6249. Chipping and dead tree falling can be done for free while our funds last. And if we run out of funds, you can be on the list for when more funds are available. The tree falling will be done by a professional contractor. The chipping will also be done by a professional contractor on or after the April 27th work party. So don't delay. Get your requests in and enjoy some free assistance. 

Anyone interested in being on the board to please contact secretary@ponderosa-park.com or president@ponderosa-park.com.  The open director's position is vice-president.

 Get your chipping piles ready by April 25th, 2024! Firewise has some money in it's account for the chipping program. We will bring in a chipper after the April 27th work party. Your Firewise Committee is applying for grants to fund chipping, and possibly to hire a contractor for large dead hazard tree removal. But sometimes grant money is a reimbursement of funds spent, and/or takes a long time to arrive. So if we use what money we have after the work party, there may be no more chipping until more money is raised. So get your branches ready for chipping, and submit a request for chipping (look under Firewise on this website) by April 25th, 2024. This is a FREE service to residents! Remember to pile branches butt ends out, next to the road where the chipper can access them. Make us all safer! Be Firewise!

The deadline for signups for Phase 2 of the Firewise/DNR shaded fuel break perimeter project is June 2024. More than 20 residents, more than half, have already signed up for this important project. Letters and signup forms will soon be sent out to residents in the project who have not yet signed up. Please consider participation in this FREE TO THE HOMEOWNER  project that will make you and your neighbors safer from wildfire. Call Ben Hartmann, our Lead Project DNR Forester for questions or more information, at 509-261-1961.
Another benefit available to property owners is the Wildfire Assessment Program. Charlie Landsman, our  DNR Community Resilience Coordinator, will assess the exterior of your property to identify things you can work on to make your property and home able to survive during a wildfire. You can read more about this program in the Firewise section. You can contact Charlie at 360-972-4249. Your Firewise Committee is also  making plans for a 2024 work party and education day to help residents with defensible space. Be Safe, Be Firewise!

The Firewise/DNR shaded fuel break project Phase 2 is well under way, with more than half the residents in this phase already signed up for this great FREE TO OWNERS project!  Everyone in phase 2 has been sent or handed an information and sign up packet.  Please consider this for your own and your neighbors' safety.  Talk to your friends and neighbors and consider whether this is something you would like to join.  Phase 1 was a great success.  Take a look at the before and after picture included here of one of the Phase 1 lots that was worked on. I f you have questions, call Ben Hartmann, Lead Project Forester at 509-261-1961, or email him at Ben.Hartmann@dnr.wa.gov.
Also remember that our rural 7 fire station right here in Ponderosa Park needs more volunteers!  Our volunteers were part of the great workforce that saved us during last summer's fire.  Volunteers need to live within a five mile radius.  If you think you can be of help, call Bill Bergthold at 1-360-630-6416.  Thank You!

 

Before:

 

After:

 

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)

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!