Willamette Valley Prescribed Fire: South Ridge Project
The Map above depicts the location of the 2016 prescribed fire perimeters.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

South Ridge Project

South Ridgeline Project

 




The South Ridgeline project would implement the actions identified in the Lane County Wildfire Protection Plan and subsequent City of Eugene South Ridgeline Fire Fuel Reduction Project. The purpose is to reduce long term risk to people, property, and critical infrastructure from wildfire hazards through community education and reduction of fuel loads in the heavily forested 2,000 acres of public lands in the South Ridgeline area of Eugene, Oregon.


Residential land uses, invasive species, overstocked forests, and changes in the climate have resulted in decadent forest conditions heavily loaded with fuels. These heavy fuel loads combined with steep slopes and inaccessible areas along more than 20 miles of ridgeline make the public parkland vulnerable to fire suppression challenges and pose a significant wildfire risk to thousands of residents and their homes, critical communication towers, transmission power lines, other electric utilities, water reservoirs, and critical infrastructure.

The Project Goals:

1). Implement landscape-scale fuels reduction treatments to reduce the risk of damaging wildfires in the WUI areas of the Ridgeline to create a more fire resilient landscape;

2). Promote public awareness, engage participation, and enhance partnerships through education, outreach and coordination of diverse and representative groups of the City of Eugene’s population.

3). Implement and maintain greater coordination among local, state, and federal land management agencies and private landowners to effectively prioritize hazardous fuels treatments, and provide the framework for reducing the risks and consequences of wildland fire to the community