Oregon Department of Forestry - Central Oregon District

ODF Central Oregon District Implements Additional Restrictions for Industrial Operations

[Prineville, Ore.]  Additional restrictions for industrial forest operations in Oregon Department of Forestry’s Prineville and John Day Units will begin at 12:01 a.m. on June 30, 2021.  These restrictions are intended to reduce potential fire ignitions resulting from logging and other forest operations. 

“We are seeing record fuel conditions daily,” says Prineville Unit Forester Gordon Foster.  “Right now, with the current fuel conditions and temperatures, the probability of a spark or ember igniting a wildland fire is 90-100 percent”.  In addition to being a receptive fuel bed for ignition, fire will rapidly spread through both live and dead vegetation and fuels.

REQUIRED SHUT DOWN:   Except at landings, the use of mechanized harvesters with a high-speed saw, chainsaws, tracked felling or skidding equipment, slash busting equipment and cable yarding systems are prohibited between the hours of 1 p.m. and 8 p.m. local time.

The requirements listed above are in addition to the normal fire season requirements as listed in “A Guide to Legal Requirements for Preventing and Controlling Fires in Operations On and Near Forestland in Oregon”, such as spark arresters, water supply, tools, fire extinguishers and watchman service.

Operators should refer to www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/Documents/fire-season-requirements-for-industrial-operations.pdf for information specific to industrial operations during fire season, or call their local ODF Office. 

Human caused fires for 2021 within ODF’s Central Oregon District are almost double the ten-year-average for fire starts year-to-date.  Thirty-nine human caused fires have burned 824 acres of ODF protected lands already this year.  On average the District responds to 136 fires each year; 66 lightning starts and 70 human ignitions.    

For additional information on ODF’s Central Oregon District, including contact information and unit offices, please visit www.ODFcentraloregon.com.