Grant County Commissioner Rowell talks forest management

JOHN DAY – Grant County Commissioner John Rowell was on KJDY’s Coffee Time recently. Rowell serves on the Blues Intergovernmental Council (BIC), and gave listeners an update on the proposed revisions to the Blue Mountains Forest Plan:

“We’re real close right now to selecting the Forest Plan. It’s probably going to be Alternate number 2, which is the most aggressive of the three. It will involve a lot of logging, it will involve road treatment, and it will involve maintenance of the forest—getting it back to a healthy forest.”

The Blue Mountains Forest Plan dictates management activities on the Malheur, Wallowa-Whitman, and Umatilla National Forests—all three of which have lands within the borders of Grant County.

Rowell mentioned how he’s been advocating for Grant County’s interests through collaboration with the Forest Service, like on the proposed Austin Project, which involves prescribed burning and other forest treatment activities. The commissioner said the Forest Service has agreed not to close any existing roads after the project wraps up.

Commissioner Rowell said the public comment period for the Austin Project closes soon, on March 19, 2026.

Listen to the full podcast with Grant County Commissioner John Rowell below:

(From the USDA Forest Service)

For a detailed outline of proposed treatments and project activity, please refer to the Malheur National Forest website at: https://www.fs.usda.gov/r06/malheur/newsroom/releases/forest-service-seeks-input-austin-project 

The preferred method to submit comments is electronically to the Comment Analysis and Response Application (CARA) database at: https://cara.fs2c.usda.gov/Public//CommentInput?Project=53678.  

---

---

• 
• 
• 

---

---

Elkhorn Media Group