OVERVIEW

The Southeastern Cascades Forest and Fire Project (SECFFP) footprint encompasses nearly 197,000 acres of land in western Klamath County. In 2021 this project was identified by the KLFHP as the next priority landscape in Klamath County for cross-boundary work, following on the heels of substantial public and private lands work planned and accomplished in the Chiloquin Community Forest and Fire Project. As recommended in Planning and Implementing Cross-boundary, Landscape-scale Restoration and Wildfire Risk Reduction Projects (Leavell et al. 2018), this landscape is developed around NEPA-ready federal land projects, including the Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) North Landscape Project (BLM 2018), and the USFS Klamath Landscape Restoration Project (currently in development). The Klamath Landscape Project was ranked as a high priority for the USFS because of the wildland urban interface, current condition, and overlap with other regional and national priorities, such as the Oregon Conservation Strategy Pelican Butte-Sky Lakes Conservation Opportunity Area.

The project incorporates 131,870 acres of Federal land under the USFS and BLM, and 27,777 acres of State land, primarily associated with Sun Pass State Forest. Private lands totaling 37,134 acres (21,000 non-industrial) are interwoven with state and federal forested lands throughout the region, with a high degree of wildland urban interface. Currently there is no comprehensive mapping or resource inventory to promote or facilitate cross-boundary, landscape-scale efforts. Wildfire does not heed property boundaries, and objectives for forest resiliency, risk reduction, and resource protection cannot be fully realized through patchwork restoration. The health of the Klamath watershed is inherently tied to the headwater forests, which must either be managed on a broad scale or be subject to catastrophic events with wider reaching impact.

OUTREACH

In 2022-2023 KLFHP will be reaching out to landowners through mailings, meetings, workshops, phone calls, and visits. This effort is funded by grants from Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and Coalitions and Collaboratives. Partners from KLFHP and engaged landowners seek to make personal contact with every landowner in the project area to spread the word about this opportunity for technical and financial support.

MAPPING

In 2022 the Klamath Watershed Partnership (KWP) will be working with a GIS Specialist and a field forestry consultant to conduct mapping of private land forest and understory conditions across the project area. This effort is funded by a grant from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Once completed, this information will be used to evaluate treatment needs across the landscape and to pursue funding for treatments.

If you would like to find out more about this effort or determine if you are in the project area and eligible for mapping done for your property, please contact Leigh Ann Vradenburg at 541-850-1717 or lvradenburg@klamathpartnership.org.

If you would like to grant permission for mapping on your property, please complete this form.

PROJECTS 

Partners will be working with engaged landowners in the near future to identify project needs, pursue funding, and implement forestry treatments.