Smokey says: "Only you can promote forest fires"

The Deschutes National Forest and the Columbia River Bioregion Campaign are the hottest new couple in town.

The agency and the coalition of conservation activists -- at odds on some issues -- have teamed up with Sisters artist Dennis McGregor to produced a haunting poster promoting the benefits of prescription fire.

CRBC is a coalition of eastside Oregon and Washington conservation groups. The Forest Service is often the target of criticism by groups like CRBC, which oppose logging in sensitive habitat areas or in quantities that they deem unwarranted.

But Maret Pajutee, Sisters Ranger District ecologist, and Susan Prince, project leader for CRBC, emphasized mutual interests and worked together on the poster. They hope the fire ecology poster will convey the importance of using controlled underburns to reintroduce low-intensity fire into the forests.

The poster sends a vivid message.

Swirls of smoke and jagged lightning electrify the ponderosa forest scene. Animals peer through colorful native vegetation. These species are among those that have evolved with fire. The letters of the word "FIRE" that run along the bottom frame a description of the role of fire in an ecosystem.

Dennis McGregor is known in Sisters as the creator of coveted Quilt Show and Sisters Rodeo posters, and his studio holds an array of naturalist poster art. He used his skills as an artist, musician -- and matchmaker -- to assist the collaboration.

While in Prince's office discussing an appearance by his band, The Blue Darts, at a CRBC function, he saw the soil poster he had created for the Forest Service. That gave him a

n idea, and he suggested that Prince and Pajutee get together.

McGregor enjoys doing the educational posters.

"It's nice to create images that people other than scientists like," McGregor said. "It was a chance for me to do a poster on a subject we've been reading a lot about and to have an effect on how people perceive fire and nature."

Supporting fire as a management tool, Prince said, "Prescribed fire is an important reintroduction of a natural process. It will help restore public trust to see it used as a tool for ecosystem rehabilitation."

Pajutee said that years of successful fire suppression have affected east-side forests.

"The many beneficial side effects of low-intensity fire need to be highlighted," she said. "The poster is an intriguing way to champion the role of fire in our environment."

McGregor noted that participants in an international fire management conference in New Mexico will be given one of the fire posters.

"What began as an idea in this little town will go all over the country and even other countries in the world," he said.

Schools can obtain a fire poster free of charge from the Forest Service and CRBC. Posters are available at Paulina Springs Book Company in Sisters and the Curiosity Shoppe in Bend for $10. Proceeds from the sale of the posters will be used to further fire ecology education efforts