By Jan Peterson, for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s Pacific Region
Rare habitat and animal species – including humans – in Oregon are about to enjoy a massive benefit thanks to almost $700,000 provided to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Damien Miller, project leader at the Willamette Valley National Wildlife Refuge Complex in Corvallis, says this funding will be used to reduce fuels within forested areas between mountains and cities so prescribed burns can be used to protect declining oak savanna habitat and nearby homes from raging wildfires in the future.
The fuels-reduction program is a crucial step in restoring the savanna and returning to the practice of regular prescribed burning, which helps maintain this key habitat type. The Willamette Valley was once mostly oak and prairie that was maintained through Native Americans’ regular burning. Since that practice stopped, most habitats have been converted to agriculture or been developed, and the remaining oak savannas have been heavily infiltrated by other trees and shrubs. This has created dense forests with a buildup of hazardous fuels just ripe for ignition.
“When historic burning stopped, the firs and woody undergrowth proliferated,” Miller explains. “The firs shade out the oak over time and will eventually kill them. Dense forests are also more susceptible to wildfire. We are going to use BIL funding to remove dense non-native woody undergrowth in some areas...
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