SISTERS, OR -- Oregon’s Departments of Forestry (ODF) and Environmental Quality (DEQ) met in Sisters, Tuesday, to discuss how to improve air quality during prescribed burns. The Smoke Management Advisory Committee was formed by ODF and DEQ to address policies and procedures used during burns. Doug Grafe is the Chief of Fire Protection for ODF. He tells KBND News, "We regulate prescribed burning on Forest land across the state of Oregon, which is approximately 30-million acres of forest land." every five years
Grafe admits he hears complaints from residents during burn season, but he says the operations are necessary for forest health. "We have meteorologists who work throughout the spring and fall burn seasons to identify good days for burning, where we can get that smoke up and out. And, that’s the focus and goal of the Smoke Management Program is to reduce those emissions into where people live around communities." He adds, "We do, locally, make a good effort to communicate publicly when and where the burns are going on. And, our job in administering the Smoke Management Program, is to minimize emissions from prescribed burns and provide the best opportunities for disbursement of the smoke."
The 20-person group meets with local officials across the state every five years. Grafe says, "We have a robust committee, representatives from county commissioners to city mayors, to forest land owners, the Lung Association, Natural Resources Conservation, and a broad representation of Oregonians to help us improve the system." Tuesday’s meeting was the second of five slated for the summer. In August they'll meet in Southern Oregon and Salem. Grafe says the committee will decide in the fall whether changes should be made to how prescribed burns are conducted.
