Funding Available To Help North Central Oregon Land Owners Improve Forest Health

Private forestland owners in Oregon’s Wasco County are encouraged to reduce the risk of wildfire and improve their forest health with help from the NRCS. The restoration effort, called the Central Wasco County All-Lands Project, is funded by the Joint Chiefs Landscape Restoration Initiative, a partnership between NRCS and the Forest Service. The overall goal is to reduce the risk of wildfires on both public and private lands.

NRCS is offering assistance to help private landowners treat and improve their woods and forests; the Forest Service will be performing similar restoration on the federal side of the project boundary in the Mt. Hood National Forest.

“Forestland threats such as wildfire and disease know no bounds,” said Garrett Duyck, NRCS acting district conservationist in The Dalles. “Working across public and private land boundaries is key to increase forest resiliency and protect our forestlands.”

“The completed work will restore pine and oak habitat and riparian areas, improve conditions for wildlife, and reduce the risk of fires spreading from public lands to neighboring non-federal lands,” said Kameron Sam, Mt. Hood National Forest District Ranger for the Barlow and Hood River Ranger Districts.  “We look forward to getting work done on the ground that benefits the forest and our neighboring communities.”

Project funding will help forestland owners implement conservation practices, such as forest stand improvement and woody residue treatment. Project goals are to improve landscape resiliency to disease and disturbance and to restore ecological function in Oregon white oak habitats for associated plant and wildlife species.

Forest stand improvement utilizes practices that guide or influence a forest stand to meet a particular objective, such as improving habitat for various wildlife species, reducing the risk of unwanted fire, or influencing the stand structure to meet landowner objectives. It can help to reduce the risk of unwanted wildfire, while also creating greater resiliency to potential stressors.

The Central Wasco County All-Lands project started in 2020 and will continue through 2022, targeting restoration on nearly 47,740 acres of state, federal and private forestland in Wasco County.

Interested land owners need to apply by April 16^th. For more information, contact Garrett Duyck, (541) 298-8559 ext. 113, or e-mail: Garrett.Duyck@usda.gov.

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