Wednesday, April 29, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
Raising awareness of wildfire threat
People in Sisters
scarcely need remind-
ing of the threat posed
by wildfire. Sisters
Country has seen nearly
two decades of major
wildfires that have dis-
rupted life and threat-
ened the local economy
and the health and well-
being of citizens.
May is Wildfire
Awareness Month.
Keep Oregon Green,
in partnership with
federal, state and local
fire agencies and orga-
nizations, is using time
to encourage the pub-
lic to create defensible
space around homes
this spring and prevent
the start of careless,
unwanted wildfires.
When it comes to prevent-
ing wildfires, there9s a lot at
stake 3 lives, personal prop-
erty, and the many benefits
provided by Oregon9s for-
ests and rangelands. During
the 2019 season, 250,000
acres in the Northwest were
consumed by wildfire, with
almost 80,000 acres burned
in Oregon.
People were respon-
sible for starting 1,192 fires
that burned around 22,000
acres. Oregon Department
of Forestry9s gross large-fire
costs were $32.8 million,
and many neighborhoods
were forced to evacuate.
Each year, over 70 percent of
Oregon9s wildfires are started
by people. Many are a result
of escaped debris burning and
campfires left unattended.
Before heading outdoors,
contact the agency or land-
owner who manages the
lands at your destination for
an update on current fire
restrictions or bans. Any visi-
tor to Oregon9s natural areas
should review these restric-
tions before building camp-
fires, burning debris, or using
equipment that could ignite
dry vegetation.
This year, Keep Oregon
Green is launching a new
wildfire prevention campaign
and releasing four new pub-
lic service announcements
to help raise awareness.
The announcements feature
movie, television and voice
actor Sam Elliott, who is
the official voice of Smokey
Bear. Each announcement
will encourage residents
and tourists to practice basic
wildfire safety while enjoy-
ing the outdoors. Elliott has
a home in Oregon and has
experienced fire first-hand
near his other home in
California, so he well
understands the fire risk
that threatens our state
every year.
Pride in Oregon is
the driving force behind
Keep Oregon Green9s
campaign and new web-
site. Stunning campaign
photos of Oregon9s
iconic landscapes will
encourage everyone to
protect our state9s sce-
nic recreation areas.
Using the hashtag,
#OregonOurOregon,
Keep Oregon Green
wants you to share pho-
tos of your favorite nat-
ural areas and thoughts
for keeping Oregon
free of wildfire. The
new campaign artwork,
PSAs, and additional wildfire
safety tips can be found at
keeporegongreen.org and its
social media platforms.
During May, a new wild-
fire prevention topic will be
shared each week to help
homeowners and recreation-
ists learn how to prevent
their outdoor activities from
sparking the next wildfire.
For more information, visit
the websites for Keep Oregon
Green at www.keeporegon
green.org, and the Oregon
Department of Forestry at
www.oregon.gov/odf.
EAGLE CAM:
Live camera shows
eaglet Aspen
Continued from page 3
hatched on April 4 and a sib-
ling hatched on April 8 but
the second one to hatch died
because it could not compete
successfully with the much
larger first-hatched eaglet.
According to Hammond,
the name <Aspen= was chosen
to honor the location of the
nest, Aspen Hollow Preserve
15
and the Deschutes Land Trust,
the owner of that Preserve
now celebrating 25 years of
preserving beautiful natu-
ral areas in Central Oregon.
View the live cam-
era at https://www.golden
eaglecam.org/home/live-
camera#comments. The cur-
rent streaming service allows
viewers to watch past record-
ing of activity, some of which
is mentioned by viewers in
the comments and some of
which can be watched in
Youtube videos posted in
some of the comments.
PHOTO COURTESY JIM HAMMOND
The golden eagle Petra captured on camera feeding the eaglet Aspen.
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