Happy Camp Art Center Roundwood Utilization Project Proposal

The Siskiyou County Resource Advisory Committee .. recommended the Happy Camp Roundwood Project for Funding at the initial amount of $180,000 for 2006-2007. This exciting project will combine several project elements to comprehensively address long-term forest and community health issues in rural Siskiyou County and beyond. Culturally based forest stewardship, sustainable construction methods utilizing small diameter wood and community capacity building are being integrated in one project to develop a seamless functional link between forest health restoration and sustainable rural economies.
Partners in the project include the Karuk Community Development Corporation, The Karuk Tribes Department of Natural Resources, The Klamath Siskiyou Art Center, Architect Katy Langstaff of Sustainable Systems Design and the USDA Forest Service, Klamath National Forest..
If you have any questions about the project or would like more information, the contacts for this project are Ben Riggan of the Karuk Community Development Corp., briggan @karuk.us, or Alan Crocket of the Klamath Siskiyou Art Center, dogheadelk @yahoo.com.
The Forest Service contact for this project is Don Hall donaldhall @fs.fed.us. -Ben Riggan

The following is a copy of the original project as proposed for the Siskiyou County Resource Advisory Committee (RAC) grant:

Project Goals and Objectives:  This multi-faceted project will meet a broad range of goals and objectives.  Principle goals for the project are:
Goal 1: Dramatically improve the Klamath-Siskiyou Art Center providing a state-of-the-art focal point for a wide range of art related community activities, including an outlet for the sale of work by local artists and craftspeople. 

Goal 2: Develop expertise in use of a building system, based on woods products not currently merchantable, which will evolve into an enterprise husbanded by the Karuk Community Development Corporation.  The hope is that, through marketing, technology transfer, job training, and regional promotion, this will lead to a local and possible county-wide low cost alternative building industry. 

Goal 3: Building a positive market for forest products which currently increase fire risks to communities and have not been economical to remove. Project will improve potential funding for forest thinning and restoration.  Another objective is the creation of a process for the use of stewardship contracts and agreements with the Karuk Tribe on the Klamath National Forest. 

Dense forest in need of thinning

Project Description:
 
Element 1 – Planning and Harvesting Materials- Cultural Forest Stewardship

The Forest Service has several alternatives it can use to provide forest materials for this project.  The preferred alternative is the use of the Forest Service’s stewardship contract/agreement authority to enter into an agreement with the Karuk Tribe to conduct activities necessary to provide suitable materials. 
Project Planning and Design: This will be a joint Forest Service/Karuk Tribal Department of Natural Resources activity.  Suitable forest units will be identified and a silvicultural/vegetation prescription will be developed for the site. 

Award of Contract or Agreement: Forest Service will draft and the Tribe and Forest Service will execute a stewardship contract or agreement for the management of the identified forest units.  Although the intent of a stewardship contract/agreement is to offset costs through the sale of merchantable materials, it is possible, depending on the units selected and the nature of forest management activities to be performed, that there may be service activity costs included within the agreement. 

Conduct of Necessary Biological/Cultural/Archaeological Surveys: The Karuk Tribe, as part of the contract/agreement will be responsible for the conduct of all necessary biological and cultural surveys of the forest units ($4,000 (50 acres at $80/acre)).

NEPA Compliance:  With Forest Service oversight and assistance, the Tribe will develop the necessary biological assessments and prepare necessary documentation to make this element of the project NEPA compliant. The Forest Service will review, modify, as necessary, and sign all of NEPA decision documents.

Element 2 - Building Modification Planning, Design, and Engineering

Typical bracket for foundation

The planning process will use an open, community-based approach.  Through a series of four community planning and design workshops, building functionality will be defined and a design will be formulated which incorporates that functionality.  Sustainable Systems Design, a design firm with experience in designing and constructing buildings of the type envisioned for this project, will lead the planning and design process.  This will include close coordination with an engineering firm.

Planning and Design: Sustainable Systems Designs, in association with the partners, will conduct a series of four community workshops which be held in Happy Camp. An iterative process will be used to create a unified community vision of the Art Center and a design that reflects that vision.  Enlisting the participation of local and regional organizations, which might have an interest in using the facility, will be critical to the success of the design activity.  Also critical to the long-term success of the project is an assessment of proposed uses to ensure that adequate revenue is generated to support the Art Center.  Participation of partners and community members in design workshops and as consultants within the design process will be significant. Sustainable Systems Designs fees for the community workshops, schematic design, design development, construction documents and architectural specifications is estimated at $63,000 (based on 12.5% of expected building cost of $525,000). 
Engineering: An engineering firm with a background in alternative building techniques will be recruited early in the project to support the architectural design activity.  Because this will be a custom structure and will also be dealing with elements related to compliance with California and Siskiyou County building standards, it is anticipated that engineering costs will be higher than for normal construction.  Efforts will be made to enlist a firm that will become a cooperating partner and is willing to contribute a portion of the costs as in-kind.  Any saving will again, be applied towards remodeling/construction costs.  Principle among the responsibilities of the engineer will be the development of structural load estimates, coordination with permitting agencies relative to engineering issues, and design of a fastening system for the structure.  We will also enlist the help of Bruce Haroldson, Baudette Consulting Engineers of Missoula, MT, whose expertise is exhibited in the beautiful Darby Library, a roundwood structure that has received widespread recognition for its design and innovative use of small diameter logs.

Element 3 - Business Organization/Planning and Structure

Formation of Klamath-Siskiyou Art Center 501(c)(3): During discussion of the business organization structure best suited to manage the Art Center, it was decided that an organization should be established whose purpose was solely its “care and feeding” after construction.  To this end, a 501(c)(3) named the “Klamath-Siskiyou Art Center” will be established.  Contractual working agreements will also be formalized between the land-owner and the Klamath-Siskiyou Art Center. 

Business Plan for Construction Operations to Insure Sustainability: The Karuk Community Development Corporation is developing business strategies to enhance the marketable utilization of small diameter timber. This project will fit as a component of a larger effort of research and development for a range of value added products that can be created from the harvested materials of forest health projects. The construction of homes is seen by KCDC as likely the best single opportunity for adding value to small diameter wood.  For this project, KCDC will be responsible for the recruitment, training and management of a construction crew that will build the Art Center as the first step in developing a local small wood construction business. Once the Art Center is completed there is already local interest expressed for other planned community structures to be built of light earth/pole construction. In addition the Karuk Tribe Housing Authority has shown willingness to explore light earth as a low-cost tribal housing option. Ultimately KCDC envisions light earth kit homes, manufactured in Happy Camp, for sale to a regional market. 

Marketing of concept and capabilities, as they develop, to Siskiyou County and the region:  Light earth construction is a cutting edge technology originally developed in Europe but quickly spreading as an economically viable, environmentally sound construction alternative throughout the world. For successful technology transfer to Siskiyou County, it is critical that the costs and benefits of these building techniques are clearly understood by a regional construction market. KCDC will, during construction of the Art Center, collect information and produce technical reports that will assess cost and benefits of utilizing a light earth/pole construction system.  Job site tours during construction, press releases, video documentation, and a regularly updated website will also give Siskiyou County contractors and developers the opportunity to get to know these techniques.  This project has the capability to promote a new sustainable regional industry based on an internationally proven technology.  Construction of the Art Center is probably the best single marketing tool we could have to promote an alternative use of what has been traditionally viewed as a non-commercial forest product.  An important part of KCDC’s  job in this project will be to maximize the interest and understanding of these new technologies so that they can find root and ultimately be able to add a new branch to Siskiyou County’s economy.

Element 4 - Initiation of Construction

All remaining funds from this request will be applied to the initial phases of construction.  Specific costs for these activities are contingent on the final design of the structure and we ask the RAC’s forbearance in accepting the vagueness of this element as presented.  For planning purposes, it is estimated the final structure will total 4,200 square feet.  Construction costs for the structure are estimated to be $525,000 (4,200 square feet at $125/sq. ft.).   No construction will be initiated until additional funds from other sources are secured to carry the project forward. There are other funding sources that have expressed willingness to continue funding the project during construction. This agreement will be formalized after grant agreements have been developed with the RAC.