Removing brush to reduce fire risk

Sisters Ranger District fire specialists are conducting brush removal work with Forest Service staff and contractors to mow approximately 3,300 acres of brush across several sites within three project areas.

Equipment operators have been conducting this work since late fall of 2022. Starting this week, they will be shifting brush mastication operations to the Highway 20 Project Area located on National Forest System lands immediately adjacent to Highway 20 and northeast of the West Barclay Drive roundabout.

In addition, equipment operators will continue intermittent mowing operations in the Camp Sherman area along Forest Service Roads 14, 1120, and 12 as snow conditions allow. No trail or road closures are anticipated; however, the Forest Service asks the public to be aware of this work and avoid areas when mowing is occurring.

Mowing reduces hazardous fuels loading and helps prepare areas for prescribed fire treatments. Both mowing and prescribed burning can reduce the potential of high-intensity wildfires. Mowing work is scheduled in the fall and winter months to take advantage of cooler weather and increased moisture, as well as to minimize impacts to ground-nesting birds and other wildlife.

This fuels reduction work is funded, in part, through the Joint Chief’s Landscape Restoration Partnership, a national initiative between the USDA Forest Service and Natural Resources Conservation Service to invest in projects aimed at mitigating wildfire risk, improving water quality and restoring healthy forest ecosystems on public and private lands.

For more information on hazardous fuels reduction projects in Central Oregon, visit http://www.centraloregonfire.org, or visit www.fs.usda.gov/deschutes and follow on Twitter @CentralORFire. For further information contact the Sisters Ranger District at 541-549-7700.