Travelers can learn about B&B fire

Three interpretive displays and a radio message now offer travelers information on the 2003 B&B Complex Fire that burned over 90,000 acres, leaving much of the country severely scorched along the Highway 20 west of Sisters.

Travelers can tune their car radio to 530 AM and listen to a recorded message about the fire and planned recovery work, or they can stop at three locations to view displays.

A new information kiosk has been installed at the Corbett Sno Park on the east slope of the Cascades. New interpretive signs have been added to existing ones at the Mt. Washington viewpoint. A third set of displays has been installed on the Suttle Lake Road just off Highway 20.

The interpretive work was designed and financed by the Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) in cooperation with the Sisters Ranger District, Oregon State University, and the Oregon Department of Transportation. OFRI is a state agency established in 1991 to provide information on the forests of Oregon. The agency is funded by a severance tax on timber harvested in the state.

“Our mission simply is education,” said Mike Cloughesy, OFRI’s director of forestry. “We want to educate the public about forestry and we want to educate foresters about the public.”

Research by Forest Fire Extension Specialist and Oregon State University Professor Steve Fitzgerald on the fire history of the B&B area helps explain how conditions have changed in recent years that contributed to the fast-moving fire two years ago.

“I must thank OFRI for taking the lead in preparing this information to tell the story of the B&B fire to the public,” said Sisters District Ranger Bill Anthony. “With our limited resources, we could not have accomplished this on our own.”