Funds to help reduce wildfires
By Paul Hall on Friday, May 14th, 2021 in Northeastern Oregon News Northeastern Oregon Top Stories
Eastern Oregon – (Information provided by Oregon Department of Forestry) Northeast Oregon Department of Forestry and 9 regional partners were awarded $5 million to reduce catastrophic wildfire, improve water quality, and increase stream habitat in eastern Oregon, The funds come from a U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) program with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS). This project is one of five similar projects awarded in Oregon. The primary goal is to address the resource concern of insufficient water due to drought and reduce the long-term impacts of wildfires on streams. Additional goals are improving water quality and providing increased habitat for fish and aquatic wildlife.
Components of the project include thinning noncommercial-sized trees, mitigating slash hazards from the thinning activities, and planting trees on lands that have suffered heavy mortality due to wildfire or insect infestations. Partners include the American Forest Foundation, My Blue Mountain Woodlands Voices of the Blues, Wallowa Resources, Forestry and Natural Resources Extension – Oregon State University, U.S. Forest Service – Wallowa Whitman National Forest, U.S. Forest Service – Umatilla National Forest, and two area industrial partners. Private landowners will work with ODF foresters and NRCS District Conservationists in Union, Baker, Umatilla, and Wallowa counties to perform essential forest management practices.
