Update’s focus: What forests to protect from wildfire?

A group of landowners and agency representatives has begun studying private and non-federal public lands in Deschutes County to determine — for the first time in over four decades — what lands the Oregon Department of Forestry should protect from wildfire.

The Deschutes County Forestland Classification Committee was convened by the Board of County Commissioners at the request of Oregon’s State Forester. The committee will hold its first meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 5, from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Deschutes County Road Department building, 61150 SE 27th S., in Bend.

The Classification Committee is charged with determining which lands within Deschutes County meet the definition of forestland as described in Oregon law.

Lands determined to be forestlands are assigned a classification based on their productivity.

That information is used to determine where ODF is required to provide wildland fire protection services, and to determine which lands are subject to an annual forest patrol assessment. For private landowners, this assessment is included in their annual property tax statement.

“It has been over 40 years since this work was last done,” explained Kristin Dodd, Central Oregon assistant district forester for ODF. “The landscape has changed a fair amount in Deschutes County over that timeframe, and as a result where we fight fire should as well.”

Committee membership is directed by state statute. The members appointed to the Deschutes County Forestland Classification Committee are Nicole Strong, OSU Extension; Kristin Dodd, Oregon Department of Forestry; Jeremy Ast, Sisters-Camp Sherman Fire District; Ed Keith, Deschutes County Forester; Bill Swarts, timber landowner representative for Cascade Timberlands; and Matt Cyrus, grazing landowner representative for owner Keith Cyrus.

The forestland classification process is intended to be open and transparent. All meetings of the Classification Committee are open to the public and time for public comment is included on each meeting agenda.

The committee will hold meetings regularly and each meeting will be advertised in advance. Meeting agendas, minutes and other work products are being posted on the web at http://www.oregon.gov/odf/centraloregon/Pages/DeschutesFLC.aspx

Under the state staute definition: “forestland” means any woodland, brushland, timberland, grazing land or clearing that, during any time of the year, contains enough forest growth, slashing or vegetation to constitute, in the judgment of the forester, a fire hazard, regardless of how the land is zoned or taxed.

“The differences in the accuracy of the mapping technology in the 1960’s (the last time Deschutes County classification was completed) and today is enough to create small changes even if the timber and grazing lands are exactly as they were in the 1960s,” ODF noted on the committee’s Web page. “Other reasons include land use changes since the last classification designation, areas that may have been assigned the wrong classification and potential data entry errors.”

The classification process is expected to take about two years. During this time the Classification Committee will review aerial imagery of the county, site productivity data, and other information to make its preliminary classifications.

Once that preliminary work is complete, a series of public information meetings will be held to provide the public and landowners opportunities to review the Forestland Classification Committee’s preliminary findings and proposed maps and to ask questions regarding the forestland classification process.

All affected landowners will receive a written invitation to these meetings. The committee may make changes to their initial findings based on landowner input received at these meetings.

“There will be potential impacts to landowners as a result of this process. However, we want the classification to be fair and equitable to those receiving and paying for fire protection within the district,” Dodd said.

Before finalizing the forestland classifications, the committee will also conduct a formal public hearing for the purpose of receiving oral or written testimony from affected landowners. The hearing will mark the start of a two-week public comment period.

After the public comment period, the committee will finalize its work, having taken comments into consideration and file a written order with the County Clerk. Once the order is filed, any person aggrieved by the classification process has 30 days in which to file an appeal with the county Circuit Court.

The agenda for the kickoff meeting will include a presentation on the history of fire protection in Oregon and locally, address the need for this effort and explain the process. It will be followed by the committee’s first meeting, in which they will elect officers, adopt their by-laws and establish subsequent meeting date(s).

More information may be obtained by calling Kristin Dodd at (541) 447-5658 extension 229.