October 21, 2022 3:20 a.m.
The Emergency Fire Cost Committee, which oversees the landowner-funded Oregon Forest Land Protection Fund, recently voted unanimously to allocate over $1.4 million to seven projects.
A release from the Oregon Department of Forestry said the projects were proposed by ODF, the Douglas Forest Protective Association and the Coos Forest Protective Association to improve Oregon’s fire protection system.
The strategic investment will help fund:
*FireWeb dispatch software licensing to continue Douglas Forest Protective Association dispatch improvement efforts
*Three detection cameras and a microwave-communication link to optimize camera functionality for the Coos Forest Protective Association
*Two guard stations in ODF’s Klamath-Lake District to assure rapid response to fires in remote areas
*One grappler dozer for more effective containment of wildfires in ODF’s Central Oregon District
*A new modular building to provide the space needed for ODF Southwest Oregon District’s detection center
*Mobile communication and cache trailers to support incident response in eastern Oregon
The release said the Wildfire Protection Act, passed during the 2013 legislative session, allows EFCC to commit funds from landowner protection assessments to strategic projects aimed at enhancing wildfire suppression efforts. Since the passage of that legislation, the EFCC has committed nearly $2.9 million to a variety of improvements.
ODF said strategic investments like this help their agency better protect Oregon’s forests and communities.