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44 °F Forecast | Road Cams Monday, February 23, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People CLASSIFIEDS Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Find a Rental Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Email Story to a Friend February 11, 2004 Reeve Hennion keeps the brush cleared around his home on the Little Applegate River. A new state law being tested in Jackson County now gives landowners a hefty incentive to do the work Mail Tribune / Jim Craven Preventing rural fires Homeowners are responsible for thinning brush that could fuel wildfires under Senate Bill 360 By PAUL FATTIG Mail Tribune When the Quartz fire burned more than 6,100 acres in the Little Applegate River drainage during the summer of 2001, it ignited Reeve Hennion’s concern. Then came the Squires fire the following summer, threatening numerous homes when it torched some 2,800 acres between Ruch and the Sterling Creek drainage. That was enough for Hennion and his wife, Lynn, whose spacious home is nestled on about 100 acres along the picturesque river. "For most of us out here, the Squires fire and the Quartz fire brought home the importance of keeping places thinned out around your home," he said. They are among rural residents in Jackson County that the Oregon Forestlands Urban Interface Fire Protection Act of 1997 is targeting. Advertisement Known as Senate Bill 360, the act sets standards for reducing the threat of fires around rural homes. Under the act, rural landowners will have the option of meeting the standards, which include creating a fuel break from 50 to 100 feet from structures, depending on the property’s classification. Those who choose not to will be responsible for paying a portion of the state’s cost of suppressing a fire that starts on their land and spreads as a result of their decision not to meet those standards. That liability could be as much as $100,000. The bill also allows the Oregon Department of Forestry to assess an annual $25 fee per tax lot to help landowners meet the standards. The fee also will pay to run the program. Jackson and Deschutes are test counties for the program. Beginning next week, a series of public meetings will be held to discuss the program, including the property identification and classification process, which has yet to be finalized. Landowners will have two years to meet the improvement goals after the property classifications are adopted by the state. Hennion, chairman of the Jackson County Land Classification Committee, became sold on thinning around a home after observing the aftermath of the Squires fire. "We saw how the fire laid down when it came to the cleared areas," he said of a section thinned by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. "For the purpose of Senate Bill 360, you just need to do some clearing around the house and around the driveway," he said. "It makes sense to do a little more, but that’s really all that is required." A few miles south of Medford, Dark Hollow resident Mich Lewis is helping organize neighbors to develop a community stewardship project to reduce the local fire hazard. The group is working with the ODF and Jackson County Fire District No. 5. Lewis, who has about nine acres in the area, plans on attending one of the public meetings next week. "I’ve done everything I can every single winter to get my fuel load down but I’ve got a day job," said the music teacher. "But I believe everybody who lives in a rural area where there is a forest needs to do that work around their homes." Most local rural landowners seem to agree, observed Dan Thorpe, ODF Medford Unit forester. "You don’t have to make the property around your house into a moonscape," he stressed. "You just need to create a defensible space." The goal is to remove or thin enough vegetation to slow the advance of a fire, giving firefighters a better chance to stop an advancing fire, he said. In addition to saving structures, reducing the fire hazard also makes firefighting safer, he said. "When a fire is on the ground, it is a lot easier to stop than when it is high in the trees," he said. Reach reporter Paul Fattig at 776-4496 or e-mail him at [email protected] Public meetings set to discuss bill Public meetings will be held at six sites in Jackson County beginning next week to discuss Senate Bill 360. Two sessions will be held at each site. The afternoon sessions will begin at 3:30 p.m. and end at 6 p.m.; the evening sessions will begin at 7 p.m. and end at 9:30 p.m. The meeting dates and locations are: Feb. 17, Ruch Elementary School. Feb. 18, Phoenix High School commons. Feb. 19, Ashland Armory. Feb. 25, Rogue River High School gymnasium. Feb. 26, Eagle Point High School commons. March 4, Jackson County Fairgrounds, Padgham Pavilion. In addition, a formal public hearing on the urban interface identification and classification maps will be held beginning at 5 p.m. March 9 at the Jackson County Parks Auditorium, 400 Antelope Road, White City. Maps of the draft forestland-urban interface areas are available at public libraries throughout the county. For more information, contact the local Oregon Department of Forestry office at 664-3328. The ODF’s Southwest District is at 159.121.125.11/swo/ on the Web. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback 3 WEEKS FREE! ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S RESOURCES Oregon Road Conditions & Cams SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Food for Thought Wellness Connection Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities Prime Times