Forest Service to hold meetings on burning

The Sisters Ranger District is busy preparing for the 2009 prescribed burning season. As part of the preparations, the Forest Service is inviting Sisters residents to attend a preseason community meeting.

The meeting will provide an opportunity for sharing information on planned projects for Sisters Ranger District for the spring and fall of 2009.

The issue is particularly sensitive this year, after a Forest Service prescribed burn escaped last fall and burned 1,840 acres, costing $4 million to douse. In the wake of that incident, some Sisters Country residents have called for an end to prescribed burning or for applying fire only after rains have reduced the danger of escape.

The Forest Service argues that prescribed fire is an important tool for restoring local forests to healthy conditions and for reducing fuel that can feed wildfires.

Sisters residents have the option of attending one of two scheduled public meetings (the content will be the same at both meetings) to be held April 13 and 14, from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. The April 13 meeting will be held at the Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District Community Hall in Sisters.

The April 14 meeting will be held at the Camp Sherman Community Hall.

Forest Service specialists will describe planned projects for Sisters Ranger District for the spring and fall of 2009, share information from the 2008 Wizard Fire review, and discuss the actions planned that are aimed at preventing escaped prescribed burns in the future.

Maps of the forest blocks or "units" that are planned for treatment in 2009, as well as units that have been previously treated will be available for viewing.

For questions about the meeting, contact Virginia Gibbons at (541) 416-6647.