SISTERS, OR -- A delay in the state’s wildfire risk map put a portion of Senate Bill 762 on hold, but another piece of that sweeping wildfire mitigation legislation is seeing some success, including in the High Desert. SB762 set aside $20 million in grants for nonprofits, local governments, conservation districts, even private landowners and federal partners to make their landscapes more resistant to wildfire.

Grant Coordinator Jenna Trentadue says it provides reimbursement for everything from prescribed burning to forest thinning, to invasive grass removal, "It really covers how we’re doing some actionable items out on the ground to really minimize that risk to communities [and] to resources and kind of address the landscape-scale type of projects that we need to be implementing to help keep our state safe from those catastrophic wildfires." The U.S. Forest Service has implemented similar federal grant programs, but Trentadue says this is the first time the state has had "skin in the game."

So far, the Oregon Department of Forestry has doled out about $9 million, with 153,000 acres treated around the state. Trentadue tells KBND News a number of those projects are in Central Oregon, including in Sisters and Black Butte Ranch, "There’s just a lot more people living in the wildland-urban interface, so it’s even more crucial that we have programs like this that do address that risk for people who are starting to build in areas that are higher risk due to being on the outskirts." The Upper Deschutes Watershed Council received money for thinning. Those trees were then used to improve habitat in a nearby stream.

Trentadue says the goal is to improve overall forest health, "How do we keep our trees healthy so that they can survive through drought? And sometimes, removing some of the trees and thinning out the areas can reduce the competition between the trees. So that’s the type of thing we’re looking for in this type of grant, where we can emphasize the health of the trees and the resiliency to both drought and wildfire."

ODF plans to treat more than 200,000 acres before the Landscape Resilliency Grant Program ends in June. 

Submitted Photos: (Top) A group tours an Upper Deschutes Watershed project receiving ODF funding. (Upper Right) State Forester Cal Mukumoto lights a slash pile.