Willamette National Forest receives $14.7 million for fuels reduction

The Willamette National Forest will receive a total of $14,700,000 to implement fuel breaks on boundaries of potential operational delineations (PODs) as part of the Wildfire Crisis Strategy implementation. Officials say the Forest was chosen based on opportunities to work with industry partners to accelerate vegetation management projects that integrate fuels reduction objectives and commercial treatments.

In a POD, roads or natural features can be used as control lines in a wildfire. Funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure and Inflation Reduction Law will cover mechanical treatments that costs for fire containment, prescribed fire, and firefighter safety while supporting local milling infrastructure.

As part of the process, the Forest is engaged will identify projects that reduce wildfire risk to highly valued resources on the landscape - like communities, infrastructure, and adjacent private lands. Efforts will build upon and improve boundaries and existing features relevant to fire containment. Projects will include working with communities, collaboratives, landowners, and industrial partners to connect and complement public and private efforts in a cohesive strategy to reduce the risk of wildfire on critical values within and adjacent to the Willamette National Forest.

“We’re looking forward to building on existing partnerships and creating new ones to do this work in areas and in ways that benefit people,” said Dave Warnack, Willamette National Forest Supervisor. “Together we will strategically identify and implement work to protect communities, homes, infrastructure, and industrial forests through the use of fuel breaks and PODs, tools that give us the best opportunity to protect the things that are most important on our landscapes.”