BLM Lakeview Field Office partners with Watershed Council to reduce wildfire risk
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Lakeview, Ore. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Lakeview Field Office has partnered with the Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council and private landowners to reduce wildfire risk, increase firefighter safety, and support land health.
The Summer Lake Wildfire Risk Reduction Project is located within the Summer Lake Watershed near Paisley. This area has seen three large wildfires in recent years. Led by the Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, this collaborative effort includes private landowners, BLM, US Forest Service, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service. The project encompasses almost 1,000 acres of private lands adjacent to 750 acres of BLM and 7,000 acres of US Forest Service lands.
“The Lakeview Field Office is committed to working in partnership with private landowners in Lake County to make their communities more fire safe,” said Jami Ludwig, Lakeview Field Manager. “We appreciate the strong participation from the watershed council to reduce fuels on private property.”
Thinning treatments conducted along most of the private/public land boundary are now complete. There is still a section of private land that will be treated soon. This area supports upland game birds, mule deer, bighorn sheep, and livestock grazing. It is also a key area for defensible space for nearby homes.
With the support of a grant through the BLM’s Community Assistance Program, planned thinning and prescribed burning will take place on this remaining 470-acre section of densely forested vegetation. Proactively addressing dense fuel stands will decrease wildfire threat to nearby homes. Planned fuels reduction treatments will also reduce the chances of a severe wildfire that can impact fish and wildlife habitat and cause soil erosion and sedimentation into nearby streams.
“Wildfire knows no boundaries, and neither should we,” said Autumn Muir, Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council. “By working together across jurisdictional fence lines, we can better treat the landscape with a ridge top to ridge top restoration mindset.”
Collaboration through a checkerboarded landscape of ownership greatly improves the effectiveness of these fuels reduction treatments. These treatments will be critical to wildfire response and increasing firefighter safety.
Learn more about defensible space here: https://www.oregon.gov/osfm/wildfire/pages/oregon-defensible-space.aspx. Read about the BLM’s Community Assistance program here: https://www.nifc.gov/about-us/our-partners/blm/fuels/community-assistance.
The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.