July 11, 2022 3:20 a.m.
Tiller Ranger District operations will move to Canyonville in the next few years.
A release from the Umpqua National Forest said results from a Project Preliminary Assessment evaluated several options for locations and Canyonville was selected after weighing all options. Chris Bentley of the UNF said the selection was based on a number of criteria:
*The Canyonville area acts as the gateway to accessing most services by most community members in the area
*Many recreation users take the I-5 corridor and take exit 99 to access the Umpqua National Forest, which is in the Canyonville area
*Many key partners and other stakeholders including the Douglas Forest Protective Association have offices in the greater Canyonville area
*There are safer routes from Canyonville to the forest than most other nearby communities
Alice Carlton, Forest Supervisor for the Umpqua National Forest said, “The Canyonville area will provide many new opportunities to the Forest”. Carlton said it’ll provide greater access to the visitor center services the public needs while also providing modern infrastructure and telecommunication “…which are vital to the success of our forest programs”.
The release said that now that the general area of Canyonville has been identified as the future home of the Tiller Ranger District Office, staff will begin to search for appropriate facilities. The process will likely take several years and in the meantime the current facilities at their present location will remain open.
The Tiller area is known to be prone to wildfire, and so the UNF paid special attention to how a move in location might impact fire response. Although the new location is farther from the District land base, staff is confident it can maintain similar response times by pre-positioning resources in key locations.
A virtual town hall meeting will be help Tuesday at 6:00 p.m. via Facebook Live to answer questions and to gather public feedback on the decision. A link to the meeting is posted: https://www.facebook.com/events/987758071911618