Summer Lake Wildfire Risk Reduction

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The Summer Lake Wildfire Risk Reduction project area focused on an approximately 600 acres within an overall 1,800- acre area with multiple ownerships. Three private landowners make up about 1,358 acres with the remaining 475 acres under BLM management. The project area is flanked by three wildfire scars and the US Forest Service has been focused on conducting thinning treatments to the boundaries. 

This area is the last dense forested stand at risk of wildfire. A stand that would lead wildfire to four permanent residences and one hunting cabin. The area is currently being surveyed for pre-wildfire roads and contingency lines within a grant agreement between the USFS and the High Desert Rangeland Fire Protection Association (HDRFPA). 

The implementation of a thinning project successfully completes a wildfire contingency line spanning nearly 10 miles from Paisley to the project area west boundary. Additionally, the treatment would improve watershed function in four sub-watersheds of the region. 

Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council, Lakeview Bureau of Land Management, Fremont-Winema National Forest, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Oregon Department of Forestry, and the private landowners within the project area.

The Summer Lake Wildfire Risk Reduction project was accomplished through multiple grants.  By leveraging grants, we have been able to treat almost 1,000 acres of private land. All very focused in one strategic area. During the implementation of the project many of the fir trees have succumbed to beetle kill (exaggerated by drought). Dealing with the piles is more dangerous than ever so LCUWC has applied for a Summer Lake Slash Management grant to help landowners treat this steep landscape, award announcements in April of 2024. LCUWC also applied for a Summer Lake All Lands Restoration grant to expand our efforts further north within the greater Summer Lake community. We will find out about the application status in the spring of 2024.