The annual wildfires that threaten residents near Oakridge Oregon bring more than just smoke and a charred landscape. They also bring evacuation orders, anxiety, and with that, the important question: What is being done to protect our communities? While the wildfire crisis is here to stay, there is room for hope in proactive management. In September of 2024, members of the public got to see what the local Forest Service district has done and is planning to do, on Dead Mountain east of Oakridge.
Along with Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative members and staff, neighbors who live near the project area got to have an open dialogue with Forest Service staff about the area they see as their backyard. Dead Mountain has a long history of significant fires, including stand-replacing events in 1910 and 1967. More recently, in 2023, the Salmon Fire was fortunately contained at 100 acres. However, nearby fires such as Kwis (2021) and Cedar Creek (2022) have burned large portions of the Salmon Creek and Black Creek watersheds. As a consequence, the communities of Oakridge, Dunning Road, and High Prairie have faced evacuation orders every summer for the past four years.
Currently, Dead Mountain faces both short-term and long-term wildfire risks. In the near future, the area is at higher risk of catastrophic wildfires due to overstocked stands and dead fuels from blowdown events. Looking ahead, the risk will increase as trees killed by crown fire in the nearby Cedar Creek fire area eventually fall, adding more fuel to the landscape. These compounding factors underscore the importance of proactive forest management and community preparedness in this fire-prone area.
This is where the Forest Service East Oakridge Strategy comes into play. The strategy will unfold in three phases, each involving an Environmental Assessment (EA). These EAs are incorporating an innovative approach called Potential Operational Delineations (PODs). PODs essentially divide the landscape into manageable compartments based on natural or human-made features that can be useful for both wildfire response and fuels management. The first POD includes Dead Mountain and will focus on landscape treatments such as thinning and creating shaded fuel breaks. These efforts aim to balance forest resiliency with fire mitigation goals. As the environmental analysis progresses, the Southern Willamette Forest Collaborative (SWFC) is committed to keeping the public informed and engaged, ensuring opportunities for community/ public participation throughout the process. For more information visit the East Oakridge Strategy Website.