Williams Project Update – Spring 2026

Located in Josephine County, the Rogue Forest Restoration Initiative Williams Project spans 6,625 acres of public and private land adjacent to the town of Williams, Oregon. This collaborative effort through Rogue Forest Partners was developed with community input to improve ecological health and reduce the risk of severe wildfire in an area that ranks among the most at-risk in the state. Wildfires have threatened Williams and adjacent communities over the last several years, and residents are eager to see fuels reduced to a manageable level.  

Partners plan to work on approximately 550 acres within the larger project area with ecological thinning and prescribed fire. Ecological forestry treatments protect and promote large, resilient legacy trees while thinning smaller, younger trees that have grown dense over decades of fire exclusion. This work enhances wildlife habitat and reduces the risk of severe wildfire to the ecosystem and adjacent communities. It also helps sustain local jobs and provides workforce training and development opportunities to help Southern Oregon communities build more capacity for forest restoration. 

Lomakatsi Restoration Project is leading implementation, working closely with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Medford District, other specialists from Rogue Forest Partners, and several private landowners in the Williams community in a cross-boundary, all-lands project. To date, Lomakatsi’s in-house crews and contractors have completed ecological thinning and pile burning on approximately 195 acres of private land and 80 acres of BLM-administered land adjacent to the community of Williams. The work is funded through Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and other federal, state, and private investments. There is no commercial logging as part of this project.