Westfir, Ore., Nov. 22, 2022 – The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service Burned Area Emergency Response (BAER) team has completed its emergency assessments of the Cedar Creek Fire. BAER is an emergency program aimed at managing imminent, unacceptable risks to human life and safety, property, and critical natural and cultural resources from post-wildfire conditions. One of the main objectives of the team’s assessment is to identify critical values at risk of additional damage due to recent wildfires. Once they identify those values, they outline the risks and suggest mitigation treatments to minimize future risk.
The Cedar Creek BAER team created executive summaries that provide a glimpse into the scientific analysis and results of its assessments. Visit https://tinyurl.com/mvp6f4ah to review the Cedar Creek Fire BAER Summary, the Soil Burn Severity Map, the Vegetation Mortality Map, and other resources. These resources highlight what is now known. A deeper understanding of the short- and long-term effects of the Cedar Creek Fire will be clearer as access is slowly gained in the coming year. We will share updated information as available. Currently, the Forest is working to implement these emergency measures to mitigate effects of winter storms to critical values.
Forest Service officials are working closely with local and state agencies on immediate and longer-term recovery needs. Suppression repair and other mitigation work has been occurring in many areas. Implementation of BAER treatments have begun and will continue through the next year as winter conditions allow. Some treatments, such as invasive weeds detection and response, will not take place until 2023.
For more information on the Cedar Creek Fire, visit: inciweb.nwcg.gov/incident/8307/ and for Cedar Creek Fire BAER information, visit https://tinyurl.com/mvp6f4ah.
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Tammy Terrell Robinson
Public Affairs Officer
Forest Service
Willamette National Forest
p: 541-225-6305
c: 541-650-2765
[email protected]
3106 Pierce Parkway, Suite D
Springfield, OR 97477
www.fs.fed.us