The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Brownfields redevelopment program is geared toward inner cities, but state officials would like to bring Brownfields aid to rural areas where timber mills have closed. For more than 100 years, timber companies erected sawmills all over northern and central California. However, as nature and government regulators restricted the timber supply, many of those sawmills closed, leaving a huge hole in the economy of the rural towns that grew up around the mills. The state Trade and Commerce Agency's Mill Reuse Pilot Program is intended to turn about six of those idled mill sites into new industrial centers. A $200,000 Brownfields grant from U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is funding is the pilot program. Trade and Commerce Agency analysts identified more than 100 closed mill sites in the central and north state. They received 10 applications for pilot program grants, project manager Karen Homolac said. The grants will pay for phase one and, if necessary, phase two environmental assessments of five or six mill sites, depending on study expense. The agency also will help the communities involved undertake a visioning program for the mill sites, which are often the only industrially zoned parcels in the area, Homolac said. Business boosters, local officials and landowners in rural areas often know little about the EPA's program, Homolac said. "People just have to get educated about what Brownfields are. People don't understand the legislation. Many of these properties just stay fenced up," she said. "This recognizes that Brownfields can be rural, not just urban." A sawmill closure can devastate a small town. Not only are good-paying sawmill jobs lost, but work for tree fallers, truck drivers and those who serve the sawmill also decreases. Transforming an old mill site into a center of new industry takes years. When South Fork Timber Industries in 1994 closed its sawmill in the unincorporated Madera County community of North Fork, it surprised no one. The mill employed up to 120 people at its peak but the work force dwindled to 45 by the time of closure. Area residents two years earlier began forming what would become the North Fork Community Development Council, said Barry Vesser, the agency's director. Since its formation, the council convinced South Fork Timber to donate the 135-acre site to the Madera County Redevelopment Agency in exchange for tax credits. The council enticed the EPA to perform environmental assessments and the council lined up grants to pay for a master plan and accompanying environmental impact report. The EIR is nearly complete, Vesser said. Once it is finished, the redevelopment agency will give the land to the council, which will be in charge of redevelopment. The master plan calls for 60 percent of the site to be used for light industrial businesses, 30 percent for a recreational vehicle park and 10 percent for a community park. Significant local interest exists for investment in the RV park, but enticing companies to build in the light industrial area could be a difficult marketing effort, Vesser said. Also, pollution from the former mill's log dip tank is a factor and no one knows how much cleanup will cost, he added. The council is considering a land swap with a developer who would remediate the contamination. "These sites are an asset, but like a lot of assets, they have liabilities attached to them," he said. Pollution usually impacts only a portion of a former mill site, said Sandy Karinen of the Department of Toxic Substances Control. Problems often stem from dip tanks in which logs were treated with a chemical solution to prevent mildew, she said. "For the most part, it's not nearly as expensive a problem with a saw mill as with a pressure-treating facility or a pulp mill, where a lot of chemicals are involved," she said. However, pollution is but one of many obstacles on the road to sawmill reuse. Patience may be the most vital asset for anyone wanting to redevelop an old mill site, said Hanan Bowman, project manager for Oregon's Mill Site Conversion Project, on which California's pilot program is based. After four years of work by the project, six of the twelve targeted sites are moving toward redevelopment, Bowman said. "The timeline for each site is a lot longer than anyone anticipated," said Bowman, who works for the private, nonprofit Rural Development Initiatives. Finding cooperative landowners, assessing environmental damage, planning, and attracting development funding all take time, he said. Because the federal Brownfields program is geared toward urban areas, efforts to get money for rural projects take longer, he said. Redeveloping one old mill site costs $2 million to $4 million, Bowman added. Contamination cleanup alone can cost anywhere from $250,000 to $1.5 million, he estimated. Soft costs, such as money spent for accountants and attorneys, also can eat up hundreds of thousands of dollars, he said. "The question is where is the money going to be coming from. And it's a question we have not solved," Bowman said. Homolac acknowledged these downsides and recognized the long-term commitment that mill site reuse requires. The state wants to draw the public into the process because many locals oppose, or are at least skeptical of, mill redevelopment, she said. North Fork's Vesser agreed that eliciting community support for planning mill site reuse is important because the sites often are large, visible, near the center of town and zoned for industry. Maintaining community interest while discarding pie in the sky notions is critical, he said. Getting the public involved "costs you some time and costs you some money, but it's time and money well-spent. Considering these are not quick processes, you can plug that in pretty economically," Vesser said. Bowman, of the Oregon program, recommended program managers set short-term goals so citizens and landowners remain motivated. Program backers believe revitalizing old mill sites is essential to keep alive the small towns that grew up around the mills. Big Fork is a perfect example of a foothill town that needs a new industrial base. The largest employers now are the local school district and the U.S. Forest Service, Vesser said. Many Big Fork residents must commute to jobs in Fresno (an hour away) or Oakhurst (30 minutes away). Trade and Commerce Agency officials intend to pick five or six mill sites for the pilot program by early June. Contacts: Karen Homolac, California Trade and Commerce Agency, (916) 324-8656. Hanan Bowman, Oregon Mill Site Conversion Project, (541) 684-9077. Barry Vesser, North Fork Community Development Council, (559) 877-2244. Mill Reuse Pilot Program, www.commerece.ca.gov/millreuse.