Wallowa-Whitman National Forest Hosts Baker City Watershed Open House

By Shannon Weidemann (McKone) on Tuesday, August 9th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News

Baker City – (Release from U.S. Forest Service) The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest is pleased to announce a public open house for the Baker City watershed project on August 17 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., at the Baker County Events Center, 2600 East St. in Baker City.

During the event, presenters from the U.S. Forest Service, Oregon Department of Forestry, Baker County, and Baker City, will discuss the upcoming watershed project and its objectives. Community members are encouraged to attend and participate in discussions with the presenters. Presentations will occur for about half an hour at the beginning of the meeting and then there will be ample time for one-on-one discussions.

The overall goal of the project is to reduce existing fuel loads between the Baker City Watershed and the nearby private land which is mostly on the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest. Reducing the existing fuel loads will help protect the watershed and the nearby land holdings by lowering the likelihood of a high-intensity wildfire and giving firefighters more opportunities to control a wildfire should one start.

Benefits of the project include:

Building and strengthening relationships among the Wallowa-Whitman Forest stakeholders through a process that fosters mutual learning and shared stewardship.

Creating conditions that would allow for firefighters to be safe and successful in protecting the watershed.

Limiting fire spread within the municipal watershed and transmission to and from adjacent private lands.

Maintaining and enhancing local communities and economies by providing a diversity of resource management activities, recreational opportunities, and commodity outputs from public lands.

Minimize water supply disruptions and cost increases to Baker City residents from wildfire related effects.

The complete scoping document and maps are available Baker City Watershed Fuels Management Project webpage. We look forward to seeing you there!