Gov. Brown to talk wildfire, earthquake preps on C.O. visit

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown will visit Bend and Redmond on Wednesday to highlight how communities can prepare for natural disasters — namely, major wildfires and earthquakes..

Working with members of the Heart of Oregon Corps, Bend Parks & Recreation District, and the Oregon Office of State Fire Marshal, Governor Brown will help remove excess brush that could fuel wildfires from a portion of Discovery Park.

After meeting with the youth work crew, she will film a public serviceannouncement for Keep Oregon Greento remind Oregonians to be vigilant during fire season.

Brown then travels to Roberts Field in Redmond to learn about plans to build an interagency wildfire dispatch center. The center will be funded by the city of Redmond to coordinate wildfire response with the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management.

Roberts Field and the adjacent Deschutes County Fairgrounds are also the designated staging area for the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake.

Brown will be briefed on how the airport will play a central role in distributing relief supplies and equipment to the Willamette Valley and the coast.

Here’s a news release on the visit from the Heart of Oregon Corps:

Governor Kate Brown is making a visit to Central Oregon this week, and will be making a stop at Bend’s newest park to visit a Heart of Oregon Corps youth crew working to reduce risk of fire to nearby area homes.

With wildfire season fast approaching, the Governor understands the importance of educating the public on how to keep their homes safe from fire — especially in dry, high desert areas like Bend — and call attention to groups who can help.

Local nonprofit Heart of Oregon Corps (HOC) runs job skills training and education programs for at-risk youth, and one of their youth crews is busy working on a “fire fuels reduction” project to mitigate the risk of wildfire at Discovery Park near Northwest Crossing.

The young people, ages 18-24 from Bend, Redmond, and Prineville, are working to remove brush, thin small trees, and eradicate undergrowth from bigger trees, and then chipping and spreading the woody debris.

Governor Brown will be donning a hard hat and working side by side with youth in this effort. Fire experts advise that residences should have at least 30 feet of cleared or “defensible” space around their property in order to prevent fires from starting and/or limit the strength and intensity of fires if they do start. The project is prescribed and funded by Bend Park and Recreation District, which is leading the charge for mitigating risk of wildfire to the city’s urban and residential areas.

The youth are in the Heart of Oregon AmeriCorps program, which is supported by a nationally competitive Oregon Volunteers AmeriCorps grant and support from the state Oregon Youth Conservation Corps grants.

Before joining Heart of Oregon AmeriCorps, most of the young people in the program were disconnected from both employment and educational opportunities, and most face barriers to success including poverty, disabilities, foster care, homelessness or previous court-involvement.

Known as “Opportunity Youth,” these young people want to work, want to gain education, and want to serve their community; HOC strives to provide them meaningful and supportive opportunities to do so.

In the program, these youth commit to serving 900 hours over six months. Many of our young people report that their favorite part of the program is making a difference in their community. Service builds their sense of self-worth in a unique way that is invaluable to personal growth, leadership development, and preparation for the workforce.

A recent graduate Chyanne shared, “At Heart of Oregon Corps, I figured out that I can really push myself, that I am capable of anything!”