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Firewood Safety Techonology Innovation Grant Announcement

Started by jsimons, March 16, 2009, 10:39:46 PM

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jsimons

The emerald ash borer has killed millions of ash trees in Michigan and
neighboring states.  Firewood movement remains the likely cause of much
of the spread of EAB and other invasive insects.  Extensive quarantines
have been created to effectively suppress the spread of this pest, but
at significant cost to both the enforcing regulatory agencies and the
industries forced to adapt their processing to new (and often expensive)
standards. 

The Southeast Michigan Resource Conservation and Development Council has
been working since 2004 to help communities and businesses to safely
find economic value in EAB-affected ash and other dead urban trees.  At
this time, the Council is allocating a single $30,000 grant to assist
with the development of an affordable system to treat firewood at risk
of carrying invasive species.  The grant will go to a research team,
university, engineering firm, or wood processing equipment manufacturer
to design plans for a simple, effective, affordable, "build-it-yourself"
debarking system that can be used by the many small, independent
firewood processors and dealers in the region.  This program will create
new opportunities for wood products businesses to remain competitive in
a complicated regulatory environment, while also ensuring that their
products are safe and free from risks of transporting EAB and other
invasives.

As part of a federally-based grant program, this grant opportunity
requires that the applicant provide matching support for this project in
an amount at least equal to the amount of funds requested (1:1).
Proposals should be submitted by April 20, 2009 to be considered for
funding.  Electronic proposal submissions, e-mailed as an MS Word
attachment or PDF, are required.  The grantee is expected to follow a
tight timeline, with the selected project to begin shortly after the
award announcement.  The awarded project should be completed by December
1, 2009, but an earlier project completion date is both preferred and
highly encouraged.

The full Request for Proposals is available at:
http://semircd.org/ash/news/FirewoodDebarkerRFP0309.pdf

For more information, please contact:

Jessica Simons
Natural Resources Specialist
Southeast Michigan
Resource Conservation & Development Council
7203 Jackson Road
Ann Arbor, MI  48103-9506
Cell: (517)851-2372
Web: www.semircd.org/ash

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