Oregon Department of Forestry's Landscape Resiliency Program : assessing the project selection process for the 2021-2023 biennium

35 pagesThe Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Landscape Resiliency Program (LRP) is a grant program to support cross-boundary restoration of landscape resiliency and fuels reduction within Oregon. In fall 2021, ODF requested the Ecosystem Workforce Program (EWP) at the University of Oregon (UO) devise and carry out a plan for monitoring investments and outcomes of the LRP. LRP monitoring focuses on three stages– Project Selection, Implementation, and Outcomes. The purpose of this working paper is to report the results of the Project Selection monitoring phase. This report presents 1) stakeholders’ experiences with the LRP program development, application process, and project selection, 2) characterization of grantee organizations, and 3) characterization of project geographies.Funding for this study was provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry to the University of Oregon’s Ecosystem Workforce Program (Agreement number M0177, Task order #5)

OAKRIDGE CEDAR CREEK FIRE 2022 INTERNAL AFTER ACTION REPORT

11 pagesAn After Action Review workshop was facilitated on Monday, December 5, 2022 for City of Oakridge, Lane County staff, and Oakridge community members who participated in the emergency responses in Oakridge for wildfire evacuation and hazardous air quality related to the Cedar Creek Fire (see timeline for details). Oakridge had 37 days from August-October 2022 when air quality was unhealthy for sensitive groups (AQI of 101-150). In an effort to learn from this unprecedented and extended event, Southern Willamette Forest Collaboratives partnered with researchers at the University of Oregon to conduct this internal After Action Review. The review consisted of one workshop that lasted 2 hours and was broken up into two sessions: 1) evacuation and 2) smoke and air quality. For evacuation, participants noted that several components of the evacuation went well, primarily related to communication timing and modes, early planning, and the use of public resources (e.g., buses). Key areas for evacuation improvement include staffing capacity, establishing an Emergency Operation Center (EOC), and improving communication and emergency planning for multiple scenarios (with and without electricity or external funding and support). For smoke and air quality, participants noted the success of the air purifier distribution program, the installation of Purple Air sensors, a field trip for school children, and strong communication about cleaner air spaces. The key areas for improvement include communication and emergency planning for multiple scenarios, streamlining (and improving the accessibility of) the purifier screening criteria and resource availability, and providing additional support for schools. The remainder of this report is divided into: 1) summarized/overall recommendations from both events; 2) Evacuation Timeline; 3) Smoke Response Timeline; and 4) more information from the discussions from each session and the resulting recommendations

Federal Forest Restoration Program update : 2016-2022 activities and outcomes

4 pagesOregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Federal Forest Restoration (FFR) Program is continuing its work partnering with federal land managers, who manage 60% of Oregon’s forests, to address the 5.6 million acres of Oregon’s forests in need of landscape treatments to reduce threats such as insect, disease, and stand-replacing wildfire, and create economic opportunities and jobs in the natural resources sector. With 65% of the highest risk acres occurring on federal lands, efforts to create landscapes resilient to disturbance must involve federal lands in a meaningful way. This report summarizes the state’s activities to mitigate the effects of severe wildfires and create healthy federal forests in Oregon. The report also fulfills the requirement of ORS 526.276 to report activities and outcomes of ODF’s work on federal forestlands in Oregon.Funded by Oregon Department of Forestry

Federal Forest Restoration Program update : 2016-2024 activities and outcomes

4 pagesOregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Federal Forest Restoration (FFR) Program looks forward to playing a role in implementing Oregon’s 20-year Landscape Resiliency Strategy, which has identified over five million acres of forestland as a top priority for treatment due to high wildfire risk, and other ecological and social factors. 57% of these priority geographies are under federal jurisdiction. The FFR Program’s federal partnership and work with forest collaboratives will play a key role in helping realize the strategy. The work of the FFR Program is also guided by the Oregon state law ORS 526.275 which created “…the policy of the state to pursue projects under the [Good Neighbor Authority] that increase timber harvest volume, contribute to job creation, reduce wildfire risks to all lands, improve wildlife habitat and watershed health, and stimulate local economies.” For this biennium, the FFR Program will be releasing four fact sheets roughly every six months containing program updates, activities and outcomes instead of one comprehensive monitoring report released prior to the end of the biennium. After June 30, 2025, the program will publish a comprehensive report that captures all activities within the 2023-25 biennium.Funded by Oregon Department of Forestry

Federal Forest Restoration Program update: activities and outcomes

4 pagesThe Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Federal Forest Restoration (FFR) Program is pleased to share updates at the mid-point of the 2023-25 biennium. This period has seen significant progress in our ongoing efforts to enhance the resilience of Oregon’s federal forests and support rural economies. The biennial investments in forest collaboratives and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning have been awarded, and the program’s activities under the Good Neighbor Authority (GNA) are entering a busy summer season. This report shares where the program’s collaboration and National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) planning investments are targeted this biennium and shows the accomplished on-the-ground work over time and across the state.Funded by Oregon Department of Forestry

Oakridge-Westfir Smoke and Air Quality: Community Survey

13 page report; 28 page appendix I; 19 page appendix II; 1 spreadsheetThis report summarizes the results of a 2024 Oakridge Air community survey on air quality and smoke from wildfire and woodstoves. This community survey was informed by interviews conducted with community leaders to identify key information needs and actions related to air quality and smoke locally. Oakridge, in Lane County, Oregon, has historically been ranked among the top 20 communities in the United States with the worst air quality due to high concentrations of particulate matter (PM2.5) from home wood heating (woodstove) and wildfire smoke. Supplemental materials that accompany this report include two appendices: Appendix I: Oakridge Smoke & Air Quality Survey is the survey instrument, Consent Form, Gift Card form, and Oakridge Air Survey Hand-Out. Appendix II: Detailed Survey Methods and Results reports all response categories for all survey questions, in the order the survey was designed. The full de-identified survey results are also included.This research was funded through the Lane Regional Air Protection Agency as part of the Environmental Protection Agency 2021 Targeted Airshed Program (TAG2), under intergovernmental agreement number LRAPA 22-05-01 TAG

Indigenous fire stewardship for fire management and ecological restoration in the Pacific Northwest

135 pages; 4 spreadsheetsIndigenous fire stewardship (IFS) plays a critical role in the maintenance of North American forest resilience. This synthesis reviews literature on IFS in the PNW as represented in scholarly peer reviewed publications. We also conducted a systematic search of the internet to identify informational resources, networks, and organizations engaged with IFS in the PNW. This paper synthesizes information on ecological, social, and policy aspects of IFS that are relevant to fire managers and restoration practitioners in the PNW. We identify current knowledge and knowledge gaps, as well as policy opportunities and barriers relevant to the application of IFS to fire management and ecological restoration. Supplemental information on spreadsheets: 1. Search_Citations.csv: This is a list of citations identified in the systematic review. It identifies the database and search terms associated with the article, information on citations, authorship, article type, and ranking used for annotation. 2. Columndescriptions.csv: Defines column headings for the Search_Citations spreadsheet. 3. SearchLog.csv: Provides details for each systematic search. 4. IFS_Websites.csv: List of websites related to Indigenous fire stewardship in the PNW.This synthesis was made possible with funds from the Joint Fire Science Program and a grant from the National Science Foundation (NSF 2215690) Human-Environment and Geographical Science Program

Wildfire smoke and athletic events : understanding public concerns, experiences, and preparedness

21 pagesThe increasingly longer and more severe wildfire smoke events in the Pacific Northwest are likely to occur during outdoor athletic events. We investigated wildfire smoke concerns, air quality communication preferences, and protective action behaviors among sporting event attendees through a survey created by our interdisciplinary research team from the UO. This report presents survey results and implications for improving communication and protocol for air quality and smoke during future outdoor athletic events.Funding for this study was provided by the University of Oregon

Oregon Department of Forestry's Landscape Resiliency Program : assessing implementation and outcomes for the 2021-2023 biennium

41 pagesThe Oregon Department of Forestry’s (ODF) Landscape Resiliency Program (LRP) is a grant program to support cross-boundary restoration of landscape resiliency and fuels reduction within Oregon. In fall 2021, ODF requested the Ecosystem Workforce Program (EWP) at the University of Oregon (UO) to devise and carry out a plan for monitoring investments and outcomes of the LRP. The LRP monitoring plan focused on three stages: Project Selection, Implementation, and Outcomes. The purpose of this working paper is to report the results of the Implementation and Outcomes monitoring phases. This report presents 1) an overview of selected projects, 2) project participants' experiences with project implementation successes, challenges, and lessons learned, 3) on-the-ground accomplishments of LRP projects, and 4) an assessment of the economic aspects of LRP.Funding for this study was provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry to the University of Oregon’s Ecosystem Workforce Program (Agreement number M0177, Task order #5)

Monitoring investments in Oregon's Federal Forest Restoration Program, 2021-2023 biennium

35 pagesThe Federal Forest Restoration (FFR) Program is a joint effort among the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF), federal forest managers, and public lands stakeholders to increase the pace, scale, and quality of federal forest restoration across Oregon. The program supports management for forest resilience on federal lands as well as economic opportunities for surrounding communities. This working paper provides an update on FFR Program investments and outcomes for the 2021-2023 biennium. Reports from the previous biennium (2019-2021) can be found elsewhere. Here we report: 1) FFR Program expenditures, 2) economic activity from timber sales and the FFR grant investments, 3) on-the-ground accomplishments of the FFR Program, and 4) stakeholders’ perspectives on the FFR Program’s successes and challenges.Funding for this study was provided by the Oregon Department of Forestry to the University of Oregon’s Ecosystem Workforce Program (Agreement number M0177, Task order #5)