Public may tour B&B Complex Fire area

Three years ago the B&B Complex Fire ripped through the forests just west of Sisters. Yet many local residents have seen the aftermath only from the highway. Now they have an opportunity to learn more about why the B&B Complex Fire burned, how it spread over 90,000 acres and how the area is recovering with the help of nature and forest managers.

People can make reservations now for an all-day tour on any one of three days late this summer: September 13, 14 or 15. The Oregon Forest Resources Institute (OFRI) is arranging the tours. Space is limited; call early at 971-673-2951 to make reservations. The tours, transportion, and lunch are free.

Lightning started two fires, the Booth Fire and the Bear Butte Fire, that eventually burned together to form the B&B Complex Fire.

Sisters area residents can do their homework by visiting one of three local interpretive displays or by listening to a low wattage radio message along Highway 20. Both offer travelers information on this wildfire that left much of the country severely burned along the highway as well as along the Cascades crest. One information kiosk is located at the Corbett Sno Park on the east slope of the Cascades. Another is at the Mt. Washington viewpoint where interpretive signs have been added to existing ones. A third set of displays is located on the Suttle Lake Road just off Highway 20.

Travelers over the Santiam Pass can tune their car radio to 530 AM and listen to a recorded message about the fire and planned recovery work. All of 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 funded by a 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.”