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Forest Service warns of active transformation, high fire risk; prescribed-burn review pending
Summary
U.S. Forest Service Forest Supervisor Donna Mickley briefed the Columbia River Gorge Commission on leadership and workforce changes at the national level, a forecast for an active 2025 fire season, and a pending review of a prescribed fire that escaped containment in the fall.
Donna Mickley, Forest Supervisor for the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, told the commission May 13 that the U.S. Forest Service is undergoing “transformational changes” including workforce shifts and new leadership priorities under Chief Tom Schultz.
Mickley said Schultz — the first recent chief hired from outside the Forest Service with 25 years of land-management experience — emphasized safety and a focus on forest health and active management. Mickley said the agency is shifting resources and expects the Forest Service “is gonna look different by the end of this fiscal year, September 30.”
On wildfire risk, Mickley described the 2024 Oregon season as “record breaking” with nearly 1,956 fires and more than 1.9 million acres burned. She said forecasts for 2025 point to an increasingly dry spring and above-normal fire potential across Washington and the Pacific Northwest by summer.
Mickley also discussed the agency’s review of the Catherine Creek prescribed burn, which later became a declared wildfire last fall. She said the Commission will be provided lessons learned when the report is released; she has tried to schedule community briefings but could not confirm a date without the report in hand. “What we're waiting on right now is just the release of that report,” she said.
Mickley said the Forest Service will also work to provide a map of prescribed-burn locations in the scenic area when feasible. The briefing emphasized public-safety readiness and that safety remains the Forest Service’s top operational priority.
No formal action was taken by the Commission on these items during the meeting.
