BEND, OR -- State and federal agencies say a prescribed fire pilot project in Central Oregon proves more preventative burning can reduce wildfire risk without adverse smoke impacts for nearby communities.
"There is no single agency that can address the escalating wildfire seasons and their impact on us, our health and our environment," Oregon Department of Environmental Quality Director Leah Feldon said Monday during a pilot project de-briefing. "Prescribed burns, especially those that are close to the community, can result in smoke impacts. And the goal of prescribed burning is to both reduce wildfire risk and limit impacts to public health from smoke." She adds, "The West Bend pilot project was an effort to try prescribed burning on more acres near a community, and incorporate new approaches to protect public health from the smoke impacts." And, she believes, it was a success.
Over the last few months, the Deschutes National Forest burned more than 1800 acres in west Bend, which is around eight times more than the area sees in a typical spring. In addition to increasing the pace and scale of burns, state and federal agencies ramped up public messaging. The Oregon Health Authority’s Gabriela Goldfarb says Bend was a natural first location for the project, "Those folks know that it’s not a matter of ‘if’ but ‘when’ their communities will be impacted by smoke, and they work closely with the land management partners - U.S. Forest Service, BLM - to ensure that residents and visitors alike are prepared for smoke during prescribed fire season." Golfdfarb added, "Bend had a strong foundation of smoke awareness and alliances, since wildfire smoke and smaller scale prescribed burning in the past are not new to Central Oregon. But that’s not the case for all vulnerable communities in our state." The lessons learned from this year's West Bend Pilot Project are expected to be used to ramp up burning elsewhere. Next year, the pilot will move to Wenatchee, WA.
Jacque Buchanan, with the U.S. Forest Service, says prescribed fire is critical for combatting longer and harsher wildfire seasons, "That’s the only way we’re going to get ahead of this. But with this effort, it’s our opportunity to demonstrate that we can do it in a way that reduces the risk, does not have catastrophic bad outcomes and we are considering the health of the public that live adjacent to these lands that we’re working on." She added, "This initiative really aims to enhance ecosystem resilience and reduce wildfire risk across the whole Pacific Northwest," says Jacque Buchanan, with the U.S. Forest Service. "This type of coordination preparation really hasn’t happened in the past - for sure, here in the Pacific Northwest, but I would say across most of the West, if not the country."
The Deschutes National Forest may conduct burning operations on 100-150 more acres in the West Bend area in the fall.
