The project outside of Black Butte is small compared to the total work that goes on in the Deschutes National Forest in any year. It’s miniscule compared to Biden’s $50 billion plan. But it’s the kind of work that needs to continue.
Bulletin Editorial Board | www.bendbulletin.com | Jan 29, 2022
When you live in Central Oregon, what happens in our federal forests really matters.
The Biden administration has a $50 billion plan to use thinning, logging and controlled fires to reduce wildfire danger around where people live.
It’s long been needed. The holdup has sometimes been legal challenges and opposition to smoke from prescribed burns. But fundamentally it’s been about money. Not enough money to do enough where it was needed. Even now, the $50 billion plan is only partially funded.
Officials at the state of Oregon recognized the money problem years ago. Since about 2014, legislators have been putting state tax dollars to work to accelerate action in Oregon’s federal forests.
Another local project just got funded. It’s small. It’s a fraction of the total state money. And it’s fraction of the kinds of work that goes on across the Deschutes National Forest in any given year. For fiscal year 2021, some 38,501 acres in the Deschutes was treated for hazardous fuels reduction. But the project is an example of how your state dollars are being leveraged to get more work done in federal forests.
The state granted $26,400 for a look at federal forest land north of Sisters and east of Black Butte Ranch. That area is important because of how close it is to those communities. It is also in the winter range for mule deer winter range. And the mule deer population in Oregon has been in decline.
The money is going to a contractor, Incident Support LLC of Sisters. It will work with volunteers to do an inventory of user-created roads and trails in that area
Over the years, people make roads and trails on forest land. We aren’t talking about official forest roads or the trails made by volunteers in cooperation with the Forest Service. By user-created roads and trails, the Forest Service means sort of renegade roads and trails made without permission.
Ian Reid, the Sisters District Ranger, told us the user-created routes can add to fire risk. They can further fragment wildlife habitat and hurt the mule deer population. Plain and simple, they are just not supposed to be there. The Forest Service doesn’t know their extent. Mapping them is the first step toward figuring out what to do about them.
And how did this project get attention? That’s thanks to the Deschutes Forest Collaborative. It made the grant application.
The collaborative is a victory in and of itself. It’s worked for more than a decade to bring together people who can often disagree — conservationists, land managers, the timber industry and elected officials — about forest policy. They find ways to work together and get things done on federal land.
The project outside of Black Butte is small compared to the total work that goes on in the Deschutes National Forest in any year. It’s miniscule compared to Biden’s $50 billion plan. But it’s the kind of work that needs to continue.