Wednesday, March 24, 2021 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
The
Ranger’s
Corner
Ian Reid
Sisters District Ranger
New ranger station
progressing
As winter wanes and
spring appears in the short-
ening shadows, it9s time for
another Ranger9s Corner.
While 2021 is a transition
year in many ways, Sisters
Ranger District employ-
ees are still hard at work
stewarding and protecting
your national forest. This
year will bring more active
management, community
engagement, and a major
shift in the management of
three Central Oregon wil-
derness areas.
First, we welcome two
new permanent employ-
ees to the Sisters Ranger
District: John DeLuca and
Lauren DuRocher. John is
our new wildlife biologist
and has years of experi-
ence working with partners
and conserving wildlife
including northern spotted
owls. Lauren is our new
environmental coordina-
tor and has vast experience
in project management,
community collaboration
and complex vegetation
management.
We also say farewell to
Nate Dachtler, one of our
esteemed fisheries biolo-
gists, who recently accepted
a promotion in Bend.
Speaking of vegetation
management, we are work-
ing on two vegetation proj-
ects on Green Ridge, west of
Sisters. The first is a danger-
tree removal project along
roads in the 2020 Green
Ridge Fire scar. The second
is a large landscape resto-
ration project, for which
we intend to release a draft
environmental assessment
this summer. Green Ridge is
an important area for wild-
life, as well as a potential
wildfire buffer from popu-
lated areas. We continue to
administer a logging con-
tract for diseased and dead
trees around Suttle, Dark,
and Scout lakes. And our
silviculturists are diligently
preparing for thousands of
acres of reforestation this
spring in the 2017 Milli Fire
burn scar.
The Deschutes National
Forest was recently awarded
over $3 million in USDA
Joint Chiefs funding. Much
of these funds will be spent
in the Sisters <fireshed= and
will target fuels reduction
and fish and wildlife habi-
tat restoration. Expect to
see smoke in the air outside
of Sisters this spring as we
resume our underburning
program after a one-year
hiatus related to COVID-
19. As always, we will work
to ensure smoke impacts
are brief, localized, and
well-communicated.
Many of you have likely
heard about the permit sys-
tem coming this summer
to the Mount Washington,
Mount Washington, and
Three Sisters Wilderness
areas. The intent of this
project is to manage for wil-
derness character as man-
dated by law: with solitude
and naturalness key tenets
of wilderness character.
Permits go live on April 6
through www.recreation.
gov and ranger district staff
are available to answer
questions about the permit
process. Staff will be moni-
toring the results of this
summer9s permit season and
adapting the process as nec-
essary in the future.
In the spirit of community
engagement, there are sev-
eral upcoming opportunities
for the public to interact with
Forest Service employees
around many of the projects
described above. The first
is a virtual Sisters Ranger
District open house sched-
uled for 5 to 7 p.m. on April
13. The second is a com-
munity conversation around
long-term dispersed camp-
ing concerns sponsored by
Sisters Citizens4Community
<Let9s Talk= on the evening
of Monday, May 17. The
third is a community dia-
logue and brainstorming
session around Sisters
Ranger District trails master
planning in mid-June (details
TBD).
Please watch The Nugget
and Deschutes National
Forest social media for
more details about these
three upcoming community-
engagement events.
Due to COVID-19, the
front office of the ranger
station is still closed to the
general public, although we
hope to see some changes
in 2021 that will allow for
more traditional public con-
tacts. We are available by
phone at 541-549-7700 dur-
ing weekday business hours
to answer your questions.
Or you can email us at mail
room_r6_central_oregon@
21
usda.gov and we will reply
as soon as possible.
Finally, our design con-
tract with Steele Associates
Architects to design the new
Sisters ranger station is pro-
gressing splendidly and we
have recently approved a 30
percent design. We intend to
commence construction on
the new warehouse in 2022;
and the main ranger station
as soon as 2023, dependent
on funding.
Watch for an article in
The Nugget soon describ-
ing the historic relationship
between the Forest Service
and the City of Sisters as
the City experiences its 75th
anniversary. Enjoy the days
ahead; there is light at the
end of the tunnel!
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