No, root would be required, and is not possible currently with the CDMA Hero.
its on the market appstosd, you can use that to format your card or you can do it manually either using the ported command or any gui.
then the app takes it from there
I made a script for this a long time ago for the g1 ill try to find it
Anyway to get this working. Ive rooted my phone and the app from the market is not working at all. Any ideas?