Lomakatsi supports US Forest Service underburn in Ashland Watershed

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Published May 17, 2024

On Wednesday, a team of 32 Lomakatsi personnel supported the U.S. Forest Service- Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest (RRSNF) in implementing a prescribed underburn as part of the The Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project (AFR). This work builds on our long-term collaboration with the US Forest Service, @The Nature Conservancy, @The City of Ashland to enhance wildlife habitat and reduce the risk of severe wildfire to the community, the forest, and the ecosystem services that the watershed provides—including Ashland’s drinking water supply. Operations continued on Thursday, with a total of 59 acres treated with prescribed fire.

Lomakatsi personnel included our two seasoned Rogue Valley crews, who completed much of the ecological thinning and pile burning in AFR over the years that set the stage for underburning. We also had 10 members of our Rogue Valley Youth Ecological Forestry Training Program and four inter-tribal crew members participate through the Rogue Basin Prescribed Fire Exchange.

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We are very grateful to the RRSNF fire management team for integrating our crew members and going out of their way to create opportunities for them to advance their training and get more experience applying prescribed fire. Lomakatsi was able to participate through our 10-year Master Stewardship Agreement with the RRSNF and funding from Oregon Conservation Corps (Oregon Youth Works).

In addition to this work in AFR, Lomakatsi crews also supported the US Forest Service and BLM Oregon & Washington in two other prescribed burn operations in the Applegate this week. We’re working collaboratively to maximize the limited window to apply good fire as an ecological maintenance tool, improving forest health and reducing community wildfire risk. Check out these photos from Wednesday.