Willamette National Forest receives $14.7 million for fuels reduction work

Springfield, Ore. – May 4, 2023. The U.S. Forest Service’s Pacific Northwest Region, Willamette National Forest will receive a total of $14,700,000 to implement fuel breaks on boundaries of potential operational delineations (PODs) as part of Wildfire Crisis Strategy implementation. The Forest was chosen based on opportunities to work with industry partners to accelerate vegetation management projects that integrate fuels reduction objectives and commercial treatments.

PODs are planning units that are defined by boundaries such as roads or natural features that can be used as control lines in a wildfire. Working with industry partners, these investments, made possible with Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Law funding, will fund mechanical treatments that will improve opportunities for fire containment, prescribed fire, and firefighter safety while supporting local milling infrastructure.

The Forest is engaged in strategically identifying projects that reduce wildfire risk to highly valued resources on the landscape such as communities, infrastructure, and adjacent private lands. Efforts will build upon and improve boundaries and existing features relevant to fire containment. Projects will include working with communities, collaboratives, landowners, and industrial partners to connect and complement public and private efforts in a cohesive strategy to reduce the risk of wildfire on critical values within and adjacent to the Willamette National Forest.

“We’re looking forward to building on existing partnerships and creating new ones to do this work in areas and in ways that benefit people,” said Dave Warnack, Willamette National Forest Supervisor. “Together we will strategically identify and implement work to protect communities, homes, infrastructure, and industrial forests through the use of fuel breaks and PODs, tools that gives us the best opportunity to protect the things that are most important on our landscapes.”

A video illustrating how PODS work can be viewed at video. Learn more about the Forest Service work to confront the wildfire crisis.

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Media Contact: Jennifer O’Leary Risdal

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Jennifer.O’[email protected]

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