Wildlife Habitat Restoration
The plants and animals who live in our dry ponderosa pine forests are also adapted to fire and benefit from forest restoration. Wildlife habitat restoration in the Deschutes National Forest includes work such as improving the health of aspen woodlands and streamside vegetation, creating snags (standing dead trees) for cavity-nesting birds such as woodpeckers, bats, and small mammals, or opening up the forest canopy to increase moisture and light on the forest floor for native grasses and wildflowers to flourish.
Since 2010, we’ve been working as partners alongside the Deschutes National Forest on a $10.1 million effort to restore 250,000+ acres of forest in Deschutes County, focusing on the unhealthiest places that are putting our forests and communities at risk.
The West Bend Project is one of 10 primary forest restoration project areas on national forestland. There are only 20 such demonstration sites nationwide, selected to receive Congressional funding through the federal Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Act. The goals of the West Bend Project: restore forest ecosystems, reduce the potential of high-severity wildfire, and provide economic and social benefits to local communities.
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Recent News
Temporary Trail Closures Deschutes National Forest
Temporary Trail Closures Deschutes National Forest Posted May 7, 2020: The Deschutes National Forest will be temporarily closing a section of the Dinah-Moe-Humm Trail from Forest Road 4180 west to the junction of Forest Road 500, north of Edison Butte…
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What is up with the Mulch Piles near Phil’s Trailhead?
What's up with the Mulch Piles around Phil's Trailhead? Beginning Wednesday, April 15, 2020, the Deschutes National Forest will temporarily close the gate on Forest Road 4604 near the Phil's Trailhead in Bend, Oregon to accomplish restoration work in two…
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Prescribed Burning in Progress
Prescribed Burning locations across Central Oregon With the arrival of favorable weather conditions, fire managers on the Deschutes National Forest will begin igniting prescribed burns and handpiles across our area over the next few weeks. This will include several high…
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