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, including the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) areas west of Bend, Sisters, Tumalo and Sunriver.
Along with this, the DCFP has a variety of other restoration projects in the works, such as a West Bend Project which is focused on restoring forest ecosystems, reducing the potential of high-severity wildfire, and provide socioeconomic benefits to local communities.
We are creating better wildlife habitat, space for trees to grow and thrive, and safer and healthier communities such as through the use of prescribed fire. Fire were historically a healthy and regular occurrence in Central Oregon forests. Our trees, plants and wildlife are all adapted to forests that received regular fire. A century of fire suppression has resulted in overly dense forests, and thus very hot and devastating fires.
Some of the most beloved and visited places in the Deschutes National Forest are restoration priorities for the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project. One of those places is the West Bend Project, which began in 2010 and will continue mechanical (thinning and brush mowing) forest restoration work until 2025. After the initial entry treatments, prescribed fire will be used as a maintenance tool in the project area well into the future. The project encompasses 26,000 acres west of Bend, Oregon.
In its current condition, this area also presents a serious wildfire threat to the City of Bend.
The DCFP is dedicated to restoring our forests, making them more resilient to fire, insects and disease, and even climate change. At the same time, we are creating better wildlife habitat, space for trees to grow and thrive, and safer and healthier communities.
Natural, low-intensity fires burning every 10 to 25 years kept our mid and lower elevation forests healthy for millennia. In fact, this kind of fire is essential for certain plants and wildlife, for cycling nutrients and for sustaining a healthy forest ecosystem.
Research has shown that thinning followed by prescribed fire is the best way to make our forests healthier. Prescribed burns make our forests more resilient, create homes for a diversity of wildlife, and keep our community safer from future wildfire.
Successful restoration treatments in the Deschutes National Forest wouldn’t be possible without the collaboration of many skilled and dedicated professionals.
A wide array of highly trained professionals (archeologists, soil scientists, botanists, wildlife biologists, foresters, fire professionals, hydrologists, and recreation planners) help assess and plan restoration projects to ensure the work protects and enhances all the things we care about in the forest.
