We've moved!!

Our blog posts will now be posted on the project wildfire site. Visit www.projectwildfire.org/blog for our recent posts.

Spring 2018 FireFree Dates

Please see the following dates for the Spring FireFree event. FireFree will have 9 events in 4 counties this spring, there will be plenty of opportunities. Please pass these dates along to any interested parties. Please note this will be the last year the current Westside Collection Site on Simpson Ave in Bend will be available to residents. 

Reduce the risk of losing your home to wildfire and take advantage of FREE yard debris disposal at local collection sites.

Create and maintain defensible space around your home and recycle your needles, branches, brush, shrubs, and limbs for FREE!

Bend

Knott Landfill 7 AM - 5 PM

May 5 THROUGH 13, 2018

61050 SE 27th Street, Bend

Westside Collection Site 8AM-4PM

May 4-5 & 11-12 2018

19755 SW Simpson Avenue, Bend (Between Century Drive & Mt. Washington on Simpson Ave.)

Redmond

Negus Transfer Station 8AM-4PM

May 18-19, 2018

2400 NE Maple Way, Redmond

Sisters

Northwest Transfer Station 8AM-4PM

May 18-19, 2018

68200 Fryrear Road, Cloverdale (Sisters)

La Pine

Southwest Transfer Station 8AM-4PM

May 18-19, 2018

54580 Highway 97, La Pine

Sunriver

Sunriver Compost Site 8AM-4PM

May 4-5 2018

Cottonwood Road, Sunriver

Madras

Box Canyon Transfer Station 8AM-4PM

April 28-29 & May 5-6, 2018

1778 NW Mill Street, Madras

Prineville

Crook County Landfill 8AM-4PM

April 28, 2018

110 SW Landfill Rd, Prineville

Crescent

Crescent Transfer Station 8AM-4PM

June 1-2, 2018

Crescent Cutoff Road, Crescent

Chemult

Chemult Landfill 8AM-4PM

June 1-2, 2018

HIghway 97, Chemult

Save the Date: Era of Megafires

Era of Megafires comes to Central Oregon
Nationally recognized ecologist Paul Hessburg presents options for reshaping our wildfire problem

Bend, OR: It may not feel like it outside, but fire season is on its way. This March, local partners are coming together to offer three Era of Megafire presentations for Central Oregonians. The Deschutes Land Trust, Sunriver Owners Association, and Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District are sponsoring events in Bend, Sunriver, and Sisters.

Deschutes Land Trust is hosting Dr. Paul Hessburg as part of their winter Nature Nights series and the Sister's event, hosted at the Belfry is sponsored in part by the Sisters Science Club. Last year was a record fire year with 9.1 million acres burning in the US. More than 680,000 acres burned in Oregon alone, in at least 33 different fires, one of which was a Megafire that burned over 190,000 acres. Dr. Hessburg will present to the audience an engaging, multimedia presentation about wildfire, its natural role in our local forests, and how that role has changed. Dr. Hessburg will present the multiple options available to our community to reshape the wildfire problem and how we can all better learn to live with fire.

Each Era of Megafire event is free to attend; however, registration for the Bend and Sunriver events is required. Date, time, location, and ticketing information is below:

Bend with Deschutes Land Trust's Nature Night: Tuesday, March 20^th, 2018 from 7:00-8:30 pm at the Tower Theater. Tickets go on sale February 20^th here (https://www.deschuteslandtrust.org/hikes-events).

Sunriver with Project Wildfire: Wednesday, March 21^st, 2018, 6:00-8:30 pm at the Sunriver Homeowners Aquatic & Recreation Center (SHARC). Tickets go on sale February 20^th here

(https://sunrivermegafires.eventbrite.com)

Sisters with Sisters Science Club: Thursday, March 22^nd, 2018, 6:30-8:30 pm at The Belfry. Tickets will be available at the door, donations will be accepted but not required (pre-registration is not required).

Paul Hessburg, Ph.D., is a Research Ecologist with the Pacific Northwest Research Station, US Forest Service. He has been studying historical and modern era forests of the Inland West for the last 32 years, publishing extensively in leading national and international journals. His work documents large changes in forest conditions and how these changes, along with climate change, have set the stage for large & severe wildfires. This presentation is an outgrowth of his research and his concerns for the future.

About Deschutes Land Trust:

The Deschutes Land Trust is Central Oregon's locally-based, nationally-accredited land trust. Since 1995, the Deschutes Land Trust has protected more than 8,900 acres for wildlife, scenic views, and local communities. For more information on the Deschutes Land Trust, contact us at (541) 330-0017 or visit www.deschuteslandtrust.org.

For more information on Project Wildfire visit: http://www.projectwildfire.org 

Greater La Pine Basin Cohesive Strategy Project

Wildfire seasons are growing longer and more severe throughout the west and in Oregon. Thanks to recent federal funding, local communities in Oregon are tackling the challenge head-on through forest restoration.  Last week, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a $32 million nationwide investment for wildfire prevention projects on public and private lands, with $4.4 million going to local Oregon projects.

The funding is provided through the Joint Chiefs' Landscape Restoration Partnership, an initiative led by the chiefs of two USDA agencies—the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS). Now in its fifth year, the Joint Chiefs' Partnership brings together local landowners and partners to accomplish forest restoration on both federally managed national forests and adjacent private lands.

Locally there is a project making meaningful progress in Central Oregon's forests; Greater La Pine Basin Cohesive Strategy Project, or commonly referred to as the Joint Chief's Project. This is a project put forth by multiple partners in the area to break down barriers between ownerships. This three-year project began in 2016 to reduce the risk of catastrophic wildfire on state, federal, and private lands in southern Deschutes County and Northern Klamath County. Project partners are doing pre-commercial thinning, brush management, fuel breaks and other activities to improve forest health and reduce fire risk. Total funding received for this year is over $1.7 million. 

Wildfire, invasive species, and water quality concerns don't stop at the boundaries of private and public land. The local Joint Chief's Project gives partners an opportunity to not look at boundaries. The only way the challenge of wildfire will be met will be by working together with agency partners, stakeholders, and private landowners.

One of the many success stories is a project on public land, called the Dilman unit. It's a ¼-mile wide fuel break, an area with reduced vegetation, extending from the Deschutes River southward to the Ponderosa Pines neighborhood in La Pine. By creating this fuel break, the hazardous fuels are reduced and it increases firefighting effectiveness over a five-mile expanse in the Wildland Urban Interface directly adjacent to La Pine and Sunriver Communities. This unit, nearly 800 acres, was planned in 2001 and some treatment occurred in 2003. However, the funding and workforce capacity made treatment of the entire unit extremely difficult. Until the funding from the Joint Chief's Project presented itself as an opportunity. 

The Joint Chief's funding was used to capitalize on existing partnerships and fund personnel from Oregon Department of Forestry, Department of Corrections, Central Oregon Youth Conservation Corps, and US Forest Service to complete the fuel reduction in this project area. US Forest Service crews will continue throughout the winter to complete pile burning to complete the suite of restoration activities.