Local News

US Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley have announced that $9.4 million is coming to Oregon to reduce wildfire threats in high-risk areas across the state.

The US Department of Agriculture is directly investing $9,422,722 in three of Oregon's national forests to treat areas of high wildfire risk where forests meet homes and communities.

The funding is part of the US Forest Service's Collaborative Wildfire Risk Reduction Program, which enables national forests to reduce wildfire risks for communities, critical infrastructure and natural resources.

The Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest is receiving $4.4 million for its Grayback Creek Watershed Ecological Restoration and Wildfire Risk Reduction Project. This investment will support strategic planning and forest restoration efforts, community engagement and collaboration, and workforce development in a critically important landscape of the local forest with conifer trees that have mostly not experienced wildfire in at least 125 years.

The Umpqua National Forest is getting $4.89 million for its Elk Tribal and Community Healthy Forest Restoration Project. This project will restore forest health using prescribed fire and by constructing strategic fuel breaks in the Elk Creek Watershed. It will build on existing collaboration between the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Tribe of Indians and the Forest Service.

Wyden and Merkley said these funds support new and expanded efforts under the Forest Service's Wildfire Crisis Strategy to invest a total of $100 million across 14 states and 21 projects, thanks to the landmark Inflation Reduction Act.