February 10, 2023 3:20 a.m.
Property owners in Jackson County whose land has been newly classified as forestland within the current reclassification process are receiving notifications of their forest patrol assessment from the Oregon Department of Forestry Southwest Oregon district this week.
Public Information Officer Natalie Weber said this is the final phase of the Forestland Classification process that the district has been undergoing since 2017. Weber said this is not at all related to the Wildfire Risk Map, released in July of 2022.
The ODF Southwest Oregon District provides wildland fire protection services to forestlands in Jackson and Josephine counties, funded by a forest patrol assessment on protected lands. The Jackson and Josephine County Forestland Classification Committee was formed five years ago to reassess private lands in the counties through a process that was completed in the spring of 2021. Weber said due to an unavoidable delayed implementation with the Jackson County Assessor’s Office, landowners who were new additions to the classification will be added this year.
The Southwest Oregon District release said classification changes do not increase ODF’s fire budget, rather, classification review helps ensure that protection costs are fairly distributed. Those costs are then matched by the state’s general fund. In most cases, a review typically results in some lands being removed from forest classification and others being added. In the Southwest Oregon District, many of the new additions were already receiving fire suppression services but had not been paying for it.
Weber said during the assessment process, the committee examined all lands within the two counties, classifying them as either “forestland” or “not forestland”. This was done according to:
*Fire risk potential
*Vegetation type (fire fuel)
*Community structure
*Proximity to other forestland
Landowners with questions about the assessment, regulations or general information can call the Medford Unit office at 541-664-3328. Additional information is available at www.swofire.com.