August 27, 2024 3:50 a.m.

On Monday, Senators Ron Wyden and Jeff Merkley urged the U.S. Department of the Interior and the Bureau of Land Management to provide additional management flexibility and key investments for a full recovery of rangelands they say have been devastated during recent wildfires in Oregon.

The senators wrote in their letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning, “As theses infernos are brought under control and the extent of losses and harm are more fully assessed, there is an opportunity for you to support recovery through your authority to provide ongoing, appropriate grazing flexibility and other management support to affected ranchers”. They continued, “Together we are calling for an opportunity to work with the DOI during recovery on science-based efforts to reduce the impact of invasives with an eye toward more ecologically healthy and resilient landscapes, including but not limited to appropriate reseeding of native plants and flexible grazing practices”.

The release said in their letter, Wyden and Merkley encouraged the federal agencies to put a priority on science-based efforts that build resilient landscapes, including reducing the invasive grasses and noxious weeds that fuel wildfires, providing appropriate grazing flexibility to affected ranchers, and focusing on the timely reseeding and recovery provisions on public lands in Eastern Oregon.  This follows a letter the senators wrote to Secretary Haaland urging the Interior Department to support Governor Kotek’s emergency authorization request for flexibility in grazing schedules and alternative grazing areas.

The letter is linked with this story: U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon (senate.gov)