Lightning Sparks Small Fires on ODF-Protected Lands

ODF Southwest Oregon District firefighters found and extinguished six small lightning-caused fires from this week's thunderstorms:

• A quarter-acre fire was extinguished Wednesday in northern Jackson County, in the Rock Creek drainage, two miles west of Round Top Lookout.
• Also Wednesday, a tree fire was extinguished in the Buck Flat area, near the confluence of Evans Creek and Canon Creek.

The following fires were discovered on Tuesday:

• A tenth-acre fire eight miles southeast of Glendale, in the Coyote Creek area.

• A single-tree fire in the Slagle Creek area, two miles northeast of Provolt.
• Another single-tree fire four miles north of Applegate Reservoir, near to where Beaver Creek flows into the Applegate River.
• A tenth-acre fire on Boaz Mountain, seven miles south of Ruch.

The storms were widespread in both Jackson and Josephine counties and some areas reported heavy rainfall. The search continues today for additional smokes.

The weather forecast calls for more lightning and rain today.

State Smoke Management Committee Meets July 24

The Smoke Management Review committee will discuss several topics concerning prescribed forest burning when it meets on Thursday, July 24, in Salem. Highlight topics slated for discussion include:

• Prescribed burning fees
• Process for designation of smoke-sensitive receptor areas
• Deadline for submission of burn plans
• Emission reduction techniques and alternatives to burning
• Special Protection Zones

The committee includes representatives of the public, federal agencies, the forest industry, air quality regulators and small woodland owners. The members are knowledgeable about smoke management issues and Oregon’s Smoke Management plan. The Oregon departments of Environmental Quality and Forestry provide staff support to the committee.

Public comment periods have been scheduled for 10:30 a.m. and 1:40 p.m.

After timber harvest, forest landowners may reduce the risk of wildfire through controlled or “prescribed” burning of unmarketable tree residue commonly known as slash. This removes potential fuel for a wildfire. It also prepares the logged site for replanting by releasing nutrients and removing vegetation that would otherwise compete with the young trees.

Department of Forestry meteorologists monitor weather conditions throughout spring and fall as they coordinate hundreds of burning requests from private and public forest landowners. This oversight helps minimize smoke intrusions into communities. Management of forest fuels through prescribed burning greatly reduces the risk of large wildfires that can pump thousands of tons of carbon into the atmosphere.

The meeting will begin at 9 a.m. in the Old Board Room of Building B (State Forester’s Office) at Oregon Department of Forestry headquarters, 2600 State St., in Salem.