Collaborative restoration project enters second year
By Terry Murry on Wednesday, April 6th, 2022 in Columbia Basin News More Top Stories
PENDLETON – The Northern Blues Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program has one year under its belt as the Umatilla and Wallowa-Whitman National forests work together to reduce the risk of wildfire. Umatilla National Forest Public Information Officer Darcy Weseman said they have about five or six years’ worth of projects ready to go, and they are not exclusively on federal land.
“The intent is to look across boundaries and not just focus on national forest lands but what we can do with partners on adjacent lands, recognizing that fire isn’t just going to stop at a jurisdictional boundary,” she said.
The collaborative effort has already seen about 66,000 acres of land undergo noncommercial thinning. Weseman said working together impressed the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“We put in for this national funding and were selected as the top project in the nation for this funding,” she said. “We’ll receive this funding for 10 years at about $3 million a year.”
