Holiday Farm Fire Recovery Progress Report

Within days after it was safe to enter fire-impacted areas, EWEB, McKenzie River Trust, McKenzie Watershed Council, and the Upper Willamette Soil & Water Conservation District, along with other Pure Water Partners, began working with landowners to identify high priority properties for intervention and stabilize them until the EPA and state agencies could respond to remove and dispose of the hazardous waste, ash/debris, asbestos, and other materials. In addition, the Pure Water Partners worked to pivot the coalition’s work towards supporting upriver landowners with burn assessments and erosion control measures.

Here are some of the results of the work of Pure Water Partners (PWP) so far:

• Conducted an immediate response to stage and cover hazardous waste, pull back ash and debris, and/or install erosion control (wattles and silt fencing) between destroyed homes and river at nearly 80 high priority properties.

• Conducted burn assessments on over 230 high priority properties to identify hazard trees and design erosion control measures tailored to each property.

• Implemented erosion control measures including hydroseeding, check dams, wattles, silt fencing, and jute mats on over 100 properties with the support of Northwest Youth Corps and local contractors.

You can track progress of the recovery and restoration efforts using the web-based dashboard developed by Lane Council of Governments (LCOG) at eweb.org/hff-landowners.

The next phase of watershed restoration efforts will focus on revegetation using native plant species provided by the Bonneville Environmental Foundation. The PWP plans to replant nearly 100 acres of high priority burned riparian and floodplain areas. To date, over 30 sites and about 50 acres have been replanted.

If you are interested in assistance with immediate native tree and shrub planting or long-term riparian restoration projects, please sign up for a PWP site assessment by visiting http://www.purewaterpartners.org.