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Wednesday, October 28, 2020 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The
Ranger’s
Corner
Ian Reid
Sisters District Ranger
Fall 2020
In a year known for its
trials and tribulations, fire
season 2020 was no excep-
tion. While the Sisters
Ranger District escaped
much of the devastation, the
Warm Springs Reservation
and many of Oregon9s
national and state forests,
cities, towns, private tim-
ber managers, and residents
were not so fortunate.
Just seven weeks ago a
large fire raged in almost
every major river drainage
in western Oregon. Fueled
by extremely low live-fuel
moistures and a dry cold
front that brought strong
east winds, when wild-
fires started around Labor
Day they grew at stagger-
ing rates. I visited my for-
mer hometown of Talent,
Oregon several weeks ago
and was overcome by emo-
tion at the sight of homes,
businesses, and entire
neighborhoods, there and in
adjacent Phoenix, leveled
by the Alameda fire. That
same day the Lionhead and
Beachie Creek fires ravaged
the North Santiam Canyon
to the west of Sisters.
Likely many of us have
a friend, loved one, or trea-
sured place that was forever
changed by the firestorm of
2020.
Across Oregon and
Washington, over 1.1 mil-
lion acres of national for-
est burned in August and
September 2020. Inside that
area were 444 miles of trail,
1,305 miles of road, 91
recreation sites, over 100
bridges and 169 buildings.
Almost 100 Forest Service
employees across the region
were impacted by being
evacuated or losing their
residence, in addition to 240
government-owned facili-
ties affected. Through a new
initiative called Operation
Care and Recovery, the
Forest Service is work-
ing to expedite recovery
of burned areas and help
our affected employees and
communities.
Locally, the Sisters
Ranger District had two
wildfires this year classified
as extended attack: Green
Ridge and Lionshead.
Green Ridge was contained
around 4,300 acres, the
majority on private tim-
berland. Several incident
management teams (IMTs)
excelled in keeping the fire
away from developed areas
such as Camp Sherman.
With the oversight of mul-
tiple IMTs, the Lionshead
Fire was contained at just
over 200,000 acres, how-
ever, only several hundred
acres burned on the Sisters
Ranger District, in previ-
ous burn scars in the Mount
Jefferson Wilderness. We
appreciate the efforts of
all our partners and coop-
erators this season to pro-
tect life, property, and
resources.
Summer wildfires are
a solemn reminder of the
need for active manage-
ment to reduce ladder fuels
and tree density. As 2020
starts to wind down, we
will double down on our
planning efforts tied to the
Green Ridge Landscape
Restoration project, a
25,000-acre project to
reduce fuels and moderate
future wildfire behavior
between Sisters and Camp
Sherman. We saw firsthand
this summer the need to
have defensible areas along
Green Ridge, given its past
fire history and continuous
fuels.
To help us with the
Green Ridge Restoration
Project and many others,
we recently hired Andrew
Myhra as the permanent
fuels specialist/assistant
fire management officer on
the district, replacing Larae
Guillory who accepted a
promotion in Prineville.
Andrew helped us here this
summer on many of the
large wildfires and will be
a wonderful addition to the
Sisters Ranger District per-
manent workforce.
Although we were able
to accomplish a tremen-
dous amount of field work
this summer 4 includ-
ing firefighting 4 due to
COVID-19 the front office
of the ranger station is still
closed to the general pub-
lic. We are still available
by phone at 541-549-7700
during weekday business
hours. Or you can email us
at mailroom_r6_central_
oregon@usda.gov and we
will reply as soon as pos-
sible. We apologize for any
inconvenience and have
extended our free-permit
season for forest products
such as mushrooms and
firewood through the end of
November.
Finally, we recently
kicked off our architec-
ture and engineering con-
tract with local firm Steele
Associates Architects to
design the new Sisters
Ranger Station, warehouse,
and the remainder of the
administrative site along
Pine Street as we reinvest
land sale funds into an
energy-efficient and acces-
sible ranger station. We
know there is a lot of public
interest in this parcel and
look forward to working
with this firm who under-
stands the community val-
ues and also having the City
of Sisters involved in the
planning and design review
team.
Stay safe and be well.
PLANNER: Woodford
encourages residents
to get involved
Continued from page 1
matter,= he said.
He is already aware that
the citizens of Sisters value
the small details.
He is versed in topics like
transfer taxes, inconspicu-
ous infill, deed restrictions,
and urban-growth boundary
expansion. Woodford uses
the Great Neighborhood
Principles when assessing a
new master-plan application.
Those principles include
consideration of mix of units;
bike and pedestrian paths;
parks, streetscape, alley load-
ing (garage access off alleys);
and front porches to encour-
age a sense of community.
Wo o d f o r d s t r o n g l y
encourages the residents of
Sisters to get involved in the
upcoming Comprehensive
Plan update.
<We are at a critical
PHOTO BY SUE STAFFORD
Community Development Director
Scott Woodford.
juncture in our community.
This is your opportunity to
help shape the future devel-
opment of Sisters,= he urged.
<If you are concerned about
the future, now is the time to
get involved.=
Information on how to
participate can be found
on the website www.
Sisters2040.com.
Woodford wants the com-
munity to know that once
COVID restrictions at City
Hall are lifted, his <door is
always open and I9m always
here to answer questions.=
He can be reached at
swoodford@ci.sisters.or.us.
Portraits
OF SISTERS
PHOTO AND STORY BY
Bl m
Studio
SPECIALIZING IN:
Cut • Color • Highlights
Hair Extensions
541-306-1120
Casey Gardner • 110 S. Elm St.
Cody Rheault
Work from global and local artists
alike converge at the Bedouin boutique.
Harmony Thomas , a Sisters native,
took over ownership back in 2018. A for-
mer Bedouin employee in her teen years,
Harmony found a knack for the global
market — providing an opportunity for
artists to share their craftsmanship in her
store with an emphasis on sustainability.
Involved deeply within the community she
says her “heart is invested in Sisters.”