ODF awards resiliency grants

Funding will support nine projects submitted by non-profit organizations and community partners to treat more than 156,000 acres across Oregon’s landscapes at highest risk for catastrophic wildfire. This state-funded grant program will also bring more than $15 million in matching funds from federal, state, private, and like-kind investments. The projects receiving funding are:

• Lower Rogue Oak Resiliency Project

• Ashland Forest All-lands Restoration (AFAR)

• Wasco County Forest Resilience Project

• Southeast Oregon Wildfire Resiliency Project

• Laurel Butte Landscape Resiliency Project

• Landscape Resiliency in the Upper Applegate Watershed

• Central Oregon Shared Stewardship Landscape Resiliency Project (COSSLRP)

• West Bear All-Lands Restoration

• Upper John Day Valley Landscape Resiliency Project

The department convened a work group of diverse stakeholders that included federal land partners and representatives of the timber industry and environmental conservation communities to establish grant criteria and evaluate proposals, said a press release. The work group recommended their top ranked projects to ODF, which was followed by a public comment period.

Grant agreements are now underway and work on some projects will begin in spring 2022 ahead of wildfire season. Most restoration work will occur between the 2022 and 2023 fire seasons. All work must be completed by June 30, 2023.

Senate Bill 762 is comprehensive legislation passed with bipartisan support that provides more than $200 million to help Oregon modernize and improve wildfire preparedness through three key strategies: Creating fire-adapted communities, developing safe and effective response and increasing the resiliency of Oregon’s landscapes.

Additional information about Senate Bill 762 and its state-funded grant programs is available on ODF’s website.