Special state and federal partnership help Eastern Oregon forests better survive wildfires and protect private property
UMATILLA NATIONAL FOREST, Ore.— This summer, the Lone Rock Fire, driven by 30 mph winds, scorched more than 137,000 acres of the Umatilla National Forest and adjoining lands, leaving many of the trees burned and lifeless.
“The fires this year have decimated our forests, and we will be working hard for years to re-establish them,” said Brandon Ferguson, Forest Resource Manager for the Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) John Day Unit. “However, in part of the Kahler Basin where the forest was treated through the work of the Federal Forest Restoration (FFR) Program it is a different story. Most of those trees have more than 40 percent of their live crown intact and will not only survive but should thrive in the coming years,” said Ferguson who oversees a group of ODF foresters who assist private landowners manage their forestland in a five-county area.
The multi-year Kahler Dry Forest Restoration Project treated 33,000 acres of federal land. Of that, 1,220 acres were impacted by the Lone Rock Fire but fared significantly better thanks to proactive treatments.
“Forest treatments included commercial and non-commercial thinning of the trees, prescribed burning of activity fuels, improvements to forest roads, fire line construction, and more,” said Kyle Sullivan-Astor, ODF’s Federal Forest Restoration Program Lead.
The FFR program aims to create healthier, more resilient forests capable of withstanding threats like wildfire, insect outbreaks, and disease, while reducing their impacts in treated areas.
“The FFR program was created to accelerate the pace, scale and quality of forest restoration and resilience across Oregon's federal forests,” said Sullivan-Astor. “ODF plays a key role by providing local expertise and capacity to federal landowners, in this case the U.S. Forest Service.”
A Long-Term, Collaborative Effort
The Kahler Dry Forest Restoration Project planning started in 2011, with on-the-ground implementation starting in 2016. Most of the work was completed by the end of 2022.
“For the Kahler Project, the FFR Program provided $512,000, with $268,686 going to crew funding and the rest for planning and capacity building,” said Sullivan-Astor.
The planning and capacity building is where ODF and its people make a big difference.
“We used our seasonal firefighting crews to perform a wide range of fieldwork, including marking trees, cruising, flagging, and prepping for commercial thinning” said Mike Billman, ODF’s Federal Forest Restoration Unit Forester in the La Grande office.
For the Kahler Project, crews worked in unusual weather conditions.
“It was brutal. Our crews had snowmobiles and show shoes, and it was 30 below a couple of nights,” said Billman of the one-time extreme early weather event for the project. “They were staying in a guard station out in the forest, so it was bare bones accommodations and not very pleasant.”
Despite the challenges, ODF crews completed the fieldwork on schedule, laying the groundwork for the next phases of the project.
Partnerships Build Success
Collaboration with local partners was critical to the project’s success.
“At the same time ODF crews were doing field work, we worked with local partners to help build expertise, capacity and community support for this project and future ones,” said Sullivan-Astor. “The Umatilla Forest Collaborative (now the Northern Blues Forest Collaborative) was critical to build public support and for the planning of the project. They received two grants; one was a capacity grant and the other was a Technical Assistance and Science Support (TASS) grant.”
These investments strengthen local forest collaboratives, helping them develop shared agreement on vegetation management in federal forests managed by the Forest Service or Bureau of Land Management.
Economic and Community Benefits
In addition to improving forest health and fire resilience, the FFR Program delivers economic and community benefits.
“Commercial thinning provides timber to local sawmills, work for timber operators, and the lumber needed to build homes,” said Sullivan-Astor. “In Eastern Oregon, infrastructure and training opportunities are limited. These projects not only create immediate work but also help build long-term expertise and capacity to continue this important work.”
In addition, most of the work is done on federal forests that border or are near private and ODF wildfire protected areas.
“If we can help our federal partners treat more forestland more effectively, it benefits ODF’s firefighting efforts and helps protect public and private resources,” said Sullivan-Astor. “This includes not just timber and wildlife habitat, but also critical infrastructure like utility lines and private buildings.”
Impact on Wildfire Resilience
While forest treatments cannot prevent wildfires entirely, they do reduce fire severity and improve landscape resilience, giving firefighters opportunities to suppress fires more effectively and protect nearby communities.
“The program is a win-win for everyone,” said Sullivan-Astor. “For relatively modest costs, we can greatly reduce wildfire impacts, protect lives and property, and cut the cost of fighting large, severe wildfires.”
For more information on the FFR Program see its recently released report or visit ODF’s Federal Forest Restoration Program webpage.
 This stand of Ponderosa Pine in the Kahler Dry Forest Restoration Project shows little signs of significant damage from the Lone Rock Fire because of the treatments it received as part of the Federal Forest Restoration Program. The trees were thinned which kept fire out of the tree canopies. Ponderosa Pine typically sheds it bark after a fire and drops their cones/seeds the following year.
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