County imposes restrictions

The Deschutes County Commissioners voted last week to impose public-use restrictions on unprotected lands within the county and on all county-owned land, to help prevent human-caused wildfires.

The restrictions mirror restrictions on Oregon Department of Forestry protected lands in Deschutes County.

Unprotected lands are defined as unincorporated lands that are not a part of a rural fire protection district or protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry.

Landowners can visit https://maps.deschutes.org/custom/basic/PublicUseRestrictions.html to review regulations and see if they apply to their property.

The following restrictions are now in place:

• Smoking is prohibited while traveling, except in vehicles on improved roads.
• Open fires are prohibited, including campfires, charcoal fires, cooking fires, and warming fires, except in designated areas.

  Portable cooking stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels are allowed.

• Chainsaw use is prohibited, between the hours of 1 and 8 p.m.

  Chainsaw use is permitted at all other hours, if the following firefighting equipment is present with each operating saw: one axe, one shovel, and one eight-ounce or larger fire extinguisher.

  In addition, a fire watch is required at least one hour following the use of each saw

• Cutting, grinding and welding of metal is prohibited between the hours of 1 and 8 p.m.

  At all other times, the area is to be cleared of flammable vegetation and the following fire equipment is required: one axe, one shovel, and one 2-1/2-pound-or-larger fire extinguisher in good working order.

• Use of motor vehicles, including motorcycles and all-terrain vehicles, is prohibited, except on improved roads and except for vehicle use by a landowner and employees of the landowner upon their own land while conducting activities associated with their livelihood.
• Possession of the following firefighting equipment is required while traveling in a motorized vehicle, except on federal and state highways, county roads, and driveways: one shovel and one gallon of water or one 2-1/2-pound-or-larger fire extinguisher, except all-terrain vehicles and motorcycles, which must be equipped with an approved spark arrestor in good working condition.
• Mowing of dried grass with power-driven equipment is prohibited between the hours of 1 and 8 p.m., except for the commercial culture and harvest of agricultural crops.
• Use of fireworks is prohibited.
• The release of sky lanterns is prohibited.
• The discharging of exploding targets or tracer ammunition is prohibited.
• Blasting is prohibited.
• Any electric fence controller in use shall be: a) Listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory or be certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services; and b) Operated in compliance with manufacturer’s instructions.

Information and maps of regulated closures for the Oregon Department of Forestry can be found at http://www.oregon.gov/ODF/Fire/Pages/Restrictions.aspx.

Information and maps of public use restrictions on Deschutes National Forest can be found at http://www.fs.usda.gov/centraloregon.