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BLM field managers brief Umatilla County on wildfire season, salvage harvests and coordination needs
Summary
Bureau of Land Management officials updated commissioners on last summer's wildfire impacts, salvage timber sales and post-fire stabilization work and asked counties to identify priority areas for future fuels management and timber projects.
Sarah Sherman, field manager for the Bureau of Land Management's Baker Field Office, told the Umatilla County Board of Commissioners that last summer's fire season was unusually severe and that BLM staff continue to work on salvage and stabilization projects.
"For the record, ... almost 650,000 acres of eastern ... being consumed by wildfire this year," Sherman said, and she reported that about 366,000 acres of that total burned on BLM-managed lands. Sherman described typical 10-year averages for burned acres and emphasized that wildfire severity left many timber stands unhealthy and at risk from disease and mistletoe.
Sherman said BLM uses timber harvests, salvage sales and invasive-grass treatment to reduce fuels and to recover value from burned timber, and that the agency is planning salvage and timber-sale work in places such as Lookout Mountain. She urged county officials and residents to submit specific areas for BLM review and to coordinate with local emergency managers on priorities.
Commissioners and county staff asked questions about fuels on rangelands and private lands, and urged stronger coordination among county emergency management, BLM and the U.S. Forest Service. Sherman recommended that county staff meet with Sage Long, Umatilla County's emergency manager, and said the BLM values liaison and cooperating-agency input when planning stabilization and treatment work.
No formal county action was taken. Commissioners and BLM staff agreed to continue information-sharing and to identify specific areas for potential timber sales, post-fire emergency stabilization and invasive-species treatment.
The update included an offer to circulate project timelines and printed reports to county offices for further review.
