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Click Here 40 °F Forecast | Road Cams Wednesday, February 4, 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 January 15, 2004 Controlled burns keep Ashland Watershed safe By VICKIE ALDOUS for the Mail Tribune ASHLAND — Smoke will continue to rise from the hills above Ashland through spring as crews burn piles of material cut to reduce wildfire risk. Workers are torching branches and small trees on U.S. Forest Service, city of Ashland and private land, according to Ashland Fire & Rescue Chief Keith Woodley. Material is cut during the dry season, but the burns wait for winter rains. The burning has worried some residents, who called the fire department to report smoke from the Ashland Watershed, he said. "People see the smoke and they get concerned," Woodley said. "I wouldn’t have it any other way. That kind of vigilance has saved the watershed in the past." Advertisement In response to the need to get out information on burning activities and actual wildfires, officials set up the city’s fire information hot line at 552-2490. Workers from Small Woodlands Services Inc. — a company owned by the city’s forestry consultant, Marty Main — are burning piles on portions of the 160-acre, city-owned Winburn Parcel high in the watershed. That burning began Wednesday, according to Woodley. Smoke from that distant area may not be visible from Ashland, he said. However, burning on private land just east of the watershed likely is visible, Woodley said. Smoke can be seen where Forest Service crews are burning piles on federal lands near the urban-wildlands interface as part of the multi-year, 1,550-acre Ashland Watershed Protection Project. Crews began work last week and plan to burn piles on 200 acres for three weeks total near the White Rabbit Trail, according to Robert Shoemaker, assistant fire management officer and fuels planner for the Ashland and Applegate ranger districts. An underburn — a low-intensity prescribed fire beneath the forest canopy — is planned for March or April on 50 acres, according to Shoemaker. Even as the burning progresses, the Forest Service has awarded a contract to Grayback Forestry to cut and pile material on another 89 acres. Shoemaker plans to award contracts for cutting and piling on an additional 200 acres this year. Forest Service officials also hope to conduct helicopter logging to thin commercially-sized trees on 63 acres this spring. Trees larger than 17 inches in diameter will not be cut because of a limit put in place by Ashland District Ranger Linda Duffy when she approved the Ashland Watershed Protection Project in 2001. If all the proposed work is carried out through the spring, more than 600 acres of the project area will have been treated. Planning continues on a proposal to thin 8,950 additional acres in the watershed. That proposal focuses on thinning wide strips in the watershed to compartmentalize the area and keep a wildfire from spreading throughout the watershed, source of Ashland’s water supply. Further thinning would be at some point in the future. Vickie Aldous is a reporter for the Ashland Daily Tidings. Reach her at 482-3456. 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