Oregon Department of Forestry
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Fire Season off to an Early Start

The Bridge Drive Fire in La Pine burned nearly 12 acres due in part to unseasonably dry and warm conditions
Chris Miller

About 3:30pm on May 8, the Deschutes County Sheriff’s Office gave people in the Lazy River subdivision north of La Pine a Level 3 (go now) evacuation notice, due to a quick-moving brush fire that started from a backyard debris burn. The fire burned about 12 acres and destroyed one home, but no people were […]

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A Possible New Danger to Oregon’s Forests

Invasive insect made its way to Oregon from North Carolina on Christmas trees
Chris Miller

If you got your Christmas tree from one of the big box stores, be careful of how you dispose of it. According to the Oregon Department of Forestry, throwing your old Christmas tree into the woods or leaving it your yard may spread the elongate hemlock scale—an armored scale insect pest of hemlock and other […]

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Will Old Man Winter Have Teeth or Dentures?

Snowpack predictions don’t look good—but that doesn’t always mean doom and gloom for the local economy
Chris Miller

This winter is predicted to be an El Niño year, with temperatures slightly higher than normal in December and a dry January. According to the Oregon State Department of Forestry and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the Cascades are on track for a lower than usual snowpack this winter. That could all have an […]

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Firefighters to Use New Recruits on Prescribed Burn Outside of Sisters

Students Will Work Beside Qualified Firefighters in Live Fire Exercise
Hayley Jo Murphy

SISTERS – Taking advantage of cooler weather and localized precipitation, the Deschutes National Forest fuel specialists and firefighters will conduct a prescribed burn on Thursday, June 16, as a live fire training exercise for new firefighters. This week the Central Oregon Fire Management Service, a service-first organization made up of Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests […]

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Groups Protest BLM Plan

Oregon Wild advocacy volunteers organize
Sherron Lumley

More than half of the forests that once covered the Earth are gone, and each year, more disappear. Though many are aware of deforestation in South America, far fewer realize that it is happening right here in Oregon. The Bureau of Land Management posted an official protest period of April 16 to May 16, as […]

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To Catch a Fire Starter

Investigation into Two Bulls Fire raises arson suspicions
Avatar photo Erin Rook

From the second story porch of their home on Tumalo Reservoir Road, Veronica and Les Hudson watched as the fire in the forested area on the other side of Bull Flat raged, jumping from hill top to hill top, burning through ponderosa pines like they were match sticks. As firefighters set up a base camp […]

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