Crosscut Saw Training Prepares Tribal Corpsmembers for Post-Fire Recreation Recovery Projects

Published March 28, 2025

Thank you to Siskiyou Mountain Club for providing Crosscut Saw Training for 16 Tribal corpsmembers—a combination of Oregon Conservation Corps crew and Inter-Tribal Indian Youth Service Corps crew—earlier this week!

After studying the basics in the classroom, participants practiced their skills under the guidance of the Siskiyou Mountain Club team, working on clearing trails of trees downed by recent storms in the wildland urban interface in the Rogue Valley. This two-day training was made possible by funding to Lomakatsi through the Bureau of Indian Affairs Division of Workforce and Youth Development, and certifies these corpsmembers for backcountry crosscut saw work planned on the U.S. Forest Service – Willamette National Forest (WNF) throughout the spring and summer.

We’re excited about our new partnership with the WNF through Lomakatsi’s Regional Inter-Tribal Indian Youth Service Corps Program, which will support a crew of 14, representing tribal communities across Oregon, northern California, and Nevada, to work on post-fire recreation recovery projects on the Forest, providing participants with highly relevant paid training experiences while also accomplishing fire recovery treatments on the ground.

The WNF has experienced several fires, burning over 400,000 acres since 2020, and severely impacted recreation infrastructure. Given the scope and scale of fire impacts, we’re glad to put forward this collaborative project to support the assessment, maintenance, replacement, rehabilitation, and reconstruction of recreation infrastructure such as trails, trailheads, and campgrounds. The project will focus on fire footprints spanning four districts of the WNF, including the Bedrock Fire, Cedar Creek Fire, Lookout Fire, Holiday Farm Fire, Beachie Creek-Lionshead Fire, and other fire footprints.

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