North Warner Forest Health Phase I and II
Project Background
The North Warner Forest Health Project (NWFHP) landscape covers 410,000 acres where private landowners and agencies are working together across ownership boundaries to promote forest health and fire resiliency. This landscape scale project began in 2016 in an effort to address limiting factors associated with overstocked, diseased, and insect infested timber stands, all at risk of catastrophic fire due to years of fire suppression. This multi-ownership project focused on 20 private property owners and the Fremont-Winema National Forest. Thousands of acres have already been thinned, with many more in contract for 2018 on private and public land.
Landowner outreach has led to additional property owners coming on board seeking opportunity to reduce risk of fire and improve the health of their timber stands. This project will create seamless healthy forest landscapes, resilient to natural disturbance.
Project Partners
Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board, Oregon Department of Forestry, Fremont-Winema National Forest, Klamath Lake Forest Health Partnership, Natural Conservation Resources Service, Lake County Cooperative Weed Management Area, and private landowners within the project areas.
Project Status
The LCUWC and NRCS were both awarded funding of a second phase of forest health thinning for 2019-2021. Ten new landowners participated in these efforts, which resulted in another 5,000 acres thinned. With the completion of these successful projects the LCUWC has been awarded another grant called the Lake County All Lands Restoration Initiative Mini FIP, please refer to that tab under project highlights for more information.