Community Meeting: West Bear All-Lands Restoration Project
On Wednesday, March 9, 2022, the Rogue Forest Partners hosted an online community meeting to discuss the ongoing ecological thinning and prescribed fire taking place as part of the West Bear All-Lands Restoration Project. This collaborative effort between nonprofits, public agencies, tribes, municipalities, and fire districts addresses the need for wildfire fuels reduction immediately adjacent to Jacksonville, Phoenix, Talent, and Medford to make communities and ecosystems more resilient.
The Partners gave a 30-minute overview of the restoration work underway in the project area, reviewed how the group is leveraging new state and federal funding for strategic wildfire mitigation, and what additional restoration efforts will take place in this wildland urban interface over the next year. The presentation concluded with a live question and answered session with attendees.
Panelists for the discussion included:
- Belinda Brown, Tribal Partnerships Director for Lomakatsi Restoration Project
- Kerry Metlen, Forest Ecologist for The Nature Conservancy
- Marko Bey, Executive Director for Lomakatsi Restoration Project
- Terry Fairbanks, Executive Director for Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative
- Peter Winnick, District Conservationist at USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service
- Darren Borgias, Southwestern Oregon Forest Conservation Director at The Nature Conservancy
This event was hosted by the Rogue Forest Partners, a group of four nonprofits and six public agencies working as one for the forests and communities of the Rogue Basin:
- Lomakatsi Restoration Project
- Oregon State University
- Klamath Bird Observatory
- The Nature Conservancy
- Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest
- Oregon Department of Forestry
- USFWS Oregon Fish and Wildlife
- Bureau of Land Management
- Southern Oregon Forest Restoration Collaborative
- USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service