Agencies keep seasonal crews busy in Sisters all year long

In an era when bureaucracy tends to make everything harder than it has to be, two state agencies have found a way to make their operations in the Sisters area more efficient.

Wayne Rowe is the Sisters Unit Supervisor for the Oregon Department of Forestry, and he likes the way an inter-departmental program is working for the area.

"We had this opportunity with ODOT (Oregon Department of Transportation) who need people in the winter when we used to lay them off," Rowe explained.

ODOT needs people to plow snow in the winter at the same time that ODF has to lay off seasonal workers -- even though ODF still has the positions on the books.

The solution, he said, has been to keep ODF workers on the payroll but have them work for ODOT.

Since ODOT has the funding for snow plowing, ODOT reimburses ODF for the wages paid out.

As a result, it's a win-win solution for both departments, and the workers get to stay on the job.

According to Rowe, the benefits of the program don't stop there.

"These guys going back and forth learn new trades and bring talents back that make them better employees," he said.

Rowe said that the program started out with just two employees.

"That's grown, now," he said, "and, between Prineville and Sisters, we're up to eight. Then we took the next step, and asked if we could do this for a federal agency."

They could. Some ODF employees now also work directly for the U.S. Forest Service when their seasonal work with the state is finished.

Rowe sees more benefits there, too.

"Same thing when they go over to the Forest Service," he explained. "They learn how to plumb units, where to put those hose lays....lighting fires, watching them burn. They're learning about fire behavior."

As most firefighters know, interagency cooperation is an important part of the firefighting equation.

"Plus, they work side by side with their Forest Service counterparts," Rowe said, "and that helps because they already know each other and their skills and abilities.

"There's a lot more payoffs than just budget savings. Some of the benefits are increased knowledge and skills."

One minor catch in setting up the program had to do with ODF firefighting positions classified as non-strikeable for union purposes.

Since snowplowing does not carry the same emergency status, details had to be worked out with the unions.

That was fairly easily accomplished, however; and Rowe says that strikes have never been an issue, anyway.

At the present time, Rowe says that ODF forces are still in a springtime mode of shifting between fire suppression roles.

"Right now, we're in transition from thinning and burning to putting people in engines and patrolling."

Often, he says, at this time of the year crews switch from one to the other from morning to afternoon.

When asked to make predictions about the upcoming fire year, he laughed and said, "I'm working as a forest supervisor because I've failed as a meteorologist."

He did say, however, that "moisture content in fuels on the ground is really low." He observed that the lack of spring rain has left the area much drier than it normally is at this time of the year.

In spite of the good snowfall over the winter, the lack of spring rain is causing some streams, such as Indian Ford Creek, to go dry even earlier than usual.

Rowe pointed out that "the large fuel component" --heavy wood ten inches or more in diameter -- is unusually dry.

He said that 35 percent moisture is a normal figure for this time of year, but the numbers are already "in the teens."

That, he says, make the fuels "available to burn and put out energy."