November 1, 10:30 a.m.  

Oregonians in forested areas may see smoke from a number of controlled burns – known as prescribed burns – this fall and winter.

A release from the Oregon Department of Forestry said forest landowners use prescribed burns to eliminate woody fuels that build up on their land from forest thinning and after timber harvests.

An ODF release said more than a million acres burned in the Labor Day wildfires of 2020 in Oregon, with an additional 800,000 acres this year. Much of that was in prime forestlands. Landowners have been trying to salvage their investments by harvesting whatever dead or dying trees are large enough and not badly burned to still be marketable. In some cases, the harvest volume exceeds the average annual harvest by a wide margin. This results in a larger amount of slash or unmarketable felled snags needing to be burned to clear land for replanting and to reduce wildfire risk.

The release said smoke may worsen symptoms for people with compromised health or lung function due to COVID-19. Updated smoke management rules minimize smoke from entering certain populated cites and areas known as Smoke Sensitive Receptor Areas and encourage proactive communication.

To protect Oregonians, trained professionals, monitor controlled burns to ensure that fires are lit when fire danger is low and weather conditions are favorable for protecting SSRA communities from smoke. The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and partner agencies monitor smoke levels and air quality across the state. DEQ’s Air Quality index provides current air quality conditions. View current conditions at: https://oraqi.deq.state.or.us/home/map