The Deschutes National Forest is the backdrop of our lives, a core piece of our identity as Central Oregonians. The forests we love and many of the things we care about in and around them are at risk without action.
What is the DCFP
We are a volunteer stakeholder committee representing a wide set of views and values.
Restoring Our Fire-Adapted Forest For Our Forest-Adapted Community
You may have noticed some changes taking place in our forests close to home. Paint on trees, thinning, mowing, and prescribed burning are all visible signs of carefully planned and implemented forest restoration treatments. The Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project is working alongside the US Forest Service to help restore our public lands to a more natural state.
Your fellow community members and local forest professionals are hard at work, coming together to learn about the best available science and practices. We strive to find common ground to do what is best for our fire-adapted forests and for our forest-adapted communities.
Advocates For Forest Restoration
Here's what some of our Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project Steering Committee members have to say about why they invest so much time in this project:
One of the greatest dividends of this willingness to collaborate is the development of understanding and respectful relationships between people that were previously at tensioned odds. And it is the development of these important relationships that pay back again and again with more forest stewardship accomplishments.
Bill Anthony
Retired District Ranger, Sisters District, U.S. Forest Service
In this day of Internet and social media, people only have to listen to, interact with, and be validated by those of the same perspective. The DCFP sort of forces people with diverse views and interests on forest management to engage with each other in a safe environment, and have an honest discussion about those views. This often results in broader and more inclusive recommendations than would come from individual interests. And it also results in more trust and understanding among participants.
Glen Ardt
Retired Habitat Biologist, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
The DCFP provides a forum to work towards achieving Fish & Wildlife’s goals of implementing forest restoration at the landscape scale. Participation meshes well with our efforts to engage with a broad stakeholder group as we define how best to promote northern spotted owl conservation in the dry forests of central Oregon. And The DCFP allows individuals from various backgrounds to openly discuss issues of forest management that could result in litigation, resulting in better projects on the ground—and less likelihood of lawsuits.
Jen O’Reilly
Fish and Wildlife Biologist, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
How can we meet our needs, such as clean drinking water or harvesting timber for houses, while making sure the ecosystems we rely upon are also functional and in good health? Restoration forces us to understand the processes and connections that support the forest, and encourages us to focus on stewardship and sustainability that will benefit us and our ecosystems for years to come. By working with a diversity of stakeholders to focus on restoration, I believe that we are concentrating on a shared vision to care for our community and ecosystems.
