Fire is a natural part of the dry forests of eastern Oregon.  Low-intensity burns once swept through these areas regularly, clearing out dead limbs and underbrush, while leaving most mature and old-growth trees untouched. 

But for a century, the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and state agencies have tried to stop all fires in eastside forests, with tragic results. Today, because many of these dry forests are overloaded with dead wood, underbrush and other fuels, when fires occur they often burn hot, putting both the forest and nearby communities at risk.

In recent years the logging industry and some politicians have tried to exploit public concern over fire to promote more logging.  Their prescription for "protecting" communities from fire is clearcuts in roadless back-country areas and in old-growth forest reserves miles from the nearest town.

Oregon Wild has opposed these irresponsible logging projects, advocating instead for conservation-based thinning programs that protect communities and restore a more natural forest landscape. The focus should be on dense stands near homes and returning the forest to a natural state, not industrial logging.     

As our work in the Siuslaw National Forest has shown, sometimes the best way to convince the Forest Service to protect old growth and manage the land responsibly is to roll up your sleeves and get to work.

That is exactly what Oregon Wild is doing with the Black Butte Fuels and Restoration Project, a conservation-based thinning project near the town of Sisters, on the east side of the Cascades. Oregon Wild’s Eastern Oregon Wildlands Advocate Tim Lillebo is working with the Forest Service, local residents, other conservationists and staff from The Warm Springs Tribes to carry out a conservation thinning project on 800 acres of dry forest that has been degraded by past logging and fire suppression.

"Trying to conquer nature and stop all fires everywhere has made a mess out of these dry forests," Lillebo notes. “Oregon Wild’s goal with the Black Butte Project is to help the Forest Service show the public and the Bush administration how to do a fire risk reduction and ecosystem restoration project the right way, protecting homes while also protecting the forest and wildlife."

The goal of the Black Butte Project is three-fold:

• Reduce the risk of forest fire for homes. 
• Protect old-growth trees and wildlife from hot, stand-replacing fire. 
• Restore a more natural landscape where low-intensity fires can once again play a natural role in maintaining the health of the land.