C.O. featured in new Oregon Dept. of Forestry video series on restoring federal forests

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The Oregon Department of Forestry has released four new videos, including one filmed in Central Oregon, as part of its Federal Forest Restoration Program. The series is called “Forward Together: Restoring Oregon’s Federal Forests.”

The videos show how the FFR Program is helping mitigate climate change and address federal forest health challenges in Oregon, including risk of catastrophic wildfire, insect pests, and disease, ODF said in a news release, which continues below:

Oregonians in many walks of life interact with and value their federal forests. The FFR Program works to conserve and protect these forests, which are critical to maintaining clean water, fish and wildfire habitat, jobs, and recreational opportunities.

“The video series highlights the collaborative work the FFR Program has accomplished through strong partnerships and a commitment to increasing the pace, scale and quality of forest restoration work to create heathier forests and safter communities,” said Kyle Sullivan, Federal Forest Restoration Program Lead.

The four video titles are:

• Restoring the Backyard Forest: Central Oregon
• Forward Together: Restoring Oregon’s Federal Forests
• Building Community: Oakridge and Westfir
• Resilience in the Face of Change: Southern Oregon

Restoring the Backyard Forest: Central Oregon

Historically, low-intensity wildfire was a frequent event in many of Oregon’s forests, which had adapted to such fires. The absence of frequent fire creates unnaturally dense forest weakened by drought, and attacks by insects and diseases. This puts them at high risk for a stand-replacing wildfire. This video shows that by mimicking historical low-intensity fire disturbance through mechanical thinning or other means, followed by the reintroduction of fire, we can restore natural ecological processes and make forests healthier. 

Forward Together: Restoring Oregon’s Federal Forests

The videos showcase partners, stakeholders, and department representatives outlining the purpose and history of ODF’s Federal Forest Restoration Program and highlighting its goal of creating landscapes resilient to climate-driven disturbances.

Building Community: Oakridge and Westfir

Forest restoration and stewardship are important throughout the state. The restoration activities that ODF performs are of particular importance to rural, forest-dependent communities and provide benefits of improved fish and wildlife habitat, wildfire risk reduction, improved watershed conditions, and enhanced recreation for both rural and urban communities. 

Resilience in the Face of Change: Southern Oregon

Fostering strategic partnerships leads to more strategic treatments that protect communities, our firefighters, the water we drink, and the forests we recreate in. This video highlights the importance of the FFR Program’s investments in forest collaboratives. These collaboratives work to create a common language and common vision for how to solve federal forest health challenges.