Forest Service will begin burning project

Even as rehabilitation crews work to repair the destructive effects of fire, the Forest Service plans to intentionally light some fires to enhance the health of the forest in the Metolius Basin.

The Sisters Ranger District will ingnite fires in two units along Forest Road 14 in Camp Sherman sometime this week, according to fire supervisor Kirk Metzger.

"We need about a three- to five-day drying window," Metzger said.

The fires will burn underbrush on two parcels in the Metolius Research Natural Area (RNA). The underburning is part of an ongoing project initiated in 1992 to reintroduce a more natural fire cycle into the Metolius Basin forest.

Under historic conditions, forests in the area were subject to low-intensity, ground level fires at intervals of five to 20 years. According to Metzger, the underburning is part of an effort in the Metolius RNA to "see how fire affects understory plant diversity in relationship to the canopy," which will not burn.

This fall's burning will cover one nine-acre unit and one 31-acre unit. The larger unit has already been burned over twice, so there should not be too much smoke from that fire.

However, Sisters area residents will see the all-too familiar sight of smoke in the air.

"They should see some moderate smoke, but not a whole lot," Metzger said. "People can expect to see smoke for two to three days after the ignition."

Sisters Ranger District will also conduct burning on Bureau of Land Management land near Innes Market Road between Bend and Sisters.

"We've got three small burns out there where we're going to be working with ODA (Oregon Department of Agriculture)," Metzger said. "They're doing some research on the response of Peck's milkvetch to fire."

Peck's milkvetch is a small native plant listed as "sensitive," Metzger said.

Later this fall, the Forest Service will begin to burn thousands of piles of brush and tree limbs from thinning projects along Highway 20. According to Metzger, that work won't begin until moisture content is up and snow is imminent.