Certified Burn Manager advisory committee elects Jesse Jackson as chair and sets course on charter, training and liability work

The Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) Certified Burn Manager advisory committee on Wednesday elected Jesse Jackson as its new chair and set a timetable for charter revisions and follow-up work on training and liability protections.

The move came after Amanda Sullivan Astor, identified as forest policy manager for Associated Oregon Loggers, moved to elect Jackson and Mike Bechtold seconded; the group approved the selection by consensus with no objections. Jackson, a new committee member and education programs officer for the Cow Creek Band of Umquah Tribe of Indians, told the committee he would serve and help plan meetings.

The election capped a broader discussion about amending the committee charter to add a vice chair, clarify proxy and alternate rules, and align election timing with meeting frequency. The Prescribed Fire Coordinator at ODF said she would draft charter edits for the group to review and asked committee members to send proposed changes by the end of June ahead of a planned fall rule review.

Members also agreed to form two subcommittees: one to develop reciprocity criteria for recognizing out-of-state qualifications and another to draft a user-friendly guidebook to help practitioners who trained under federal systems adapt to Oregon’s requirements. “I think establishing criteria is the right way to go,” one committee member said about reciprocity.

Training and certification dominated the meeting’s discussion. The Prescribed Fire Coordinator outlined deliveries since the program’s 2023 launch and said the state currently has 78 qualified CBMs — 19 certified for pile burning and 59 for broadcast/understory burning. She noted many of those were granted historical recognition when the program began. “We currently now have, 78 folks who are qualified of whom 19 are pileburn CBMs and 59 are broadcast understory CBMs,” she said.

Committee members raised concerns about how trainees complete field certification books and whether the minimum of three qualifying burns is adequate preparation. The chair-designate and others discussed approaches to get trainees enough distinct assignments without diluting experience; the Prescribed Fire Coordinator said a trainee may document an operational process even if ignition does not occur and that assignments can be blocked out into separate units. One attendee said the three-burn minimum “seems like a really small number” given the complexity of leading prescribed burns.

Public comment highlighted permitting friction. Laurie Adams, a Central Oregon landowner, said her employee completed CBM training but the permitting and approval process made conducting small burns difficult: “The process was very difficult,” she said, calling for clearer, easier pathways to complete qualifying burns.

The advisory committee reviewed program tools meant to ease permitting. Amanda demonstrated an updated navigation flowchart and website links designed to guide private-land landowners and practitioners through district maps, smoke‑management registration, permitting and optional enrollment in the liability pilot fund. Members suggested clearer labeling where steps are mandatory (for example, smoke clearance plus a burn permit) and making the liability-pilot enrollment explicit as optional.

On the liability pilot, members were told the pilot has received no claims to date and is scheduled to sunset in September 2028 unless renewed by the Legislature. The Prescribed Fire Coordinator said underreporting of completed burns in the pilot’s registration system makes it hard to track program usage and urged participants to complete post-burn reporting so ODF and the Department of Consumer and Business Services can assess the pilot’s value.

Committee members and tribal representatives also described using the CBM framework for cultural burning. Tim Sexton, wildlife fire program manager for the Klamath Tribes, and Jesse Jackson discussed conducting cultural burns on a mix of fee, trust and private lands and coordinating with agencies that hold jurisdiction; the group noted that whether a burn qualifies for CBM coverage depends on land status and local operating plans.

The Prescribed Fire Coordinator asked members to submit charter and rule-change recommendations by the end of June and said she would bring a drafted charter back for committee review ahead of a planned November meeting. The committee closed with thanks and a schedule for continuing work through subcommittees and ongoing training development.

Actions recorded at the meeting include the consensus election of Jesse Jackson as chair and the formation of subcommittees to review reciprocity and charter/manual guidance. The committee did not adopt formal rule changes at this session; it set a timeline for drafting proposals to consider in the fall rule-review process.