Central Oregon—our beautiful home—is a region shaped by wildfire. Our plants have evolved alongside the fire cycle, and with it, our wildlife. Today, our communities are impacted by wildfire, whether that’s learning to create defensible space around our homes, receiving multiple Watch Duty alerts a day, or having a “go bag” ready. But when a place naturally burns frequently, and you add the impacts of climate change to that, how do you take care of the land?

Luckily, the Land Trust has been asking and finding solutions for this question for decades. Our forest and creek restoration efforts have many goals, and one of them is to help reduce wildfire danger at our Preserves and for our neighbors. This doesn’t mean trying to escape from wildfire, but helping prevent catastrophic wildfire, and helping our natural areas become stronger and healthier when wildfire does occur.

Forest Restoration

Forest restoration is one step in creating strong natural areas. It helps improves moisture, sunlight, and nutrient availability in forests where we thin juniper. Our juniper thinning work mimics historic conditions—when juniper was less dense and was mostly found along ridges and rocky outcrops. Since juniper is a native tree in Central Oregon, we also make sure to keep older trees and some small stands to provide cover for wildlife like deer and elk. All of this results in flourishing native bunchgrasses and wildflowers, and healthier stands of ponderosa pine.

Where has the Land Trust worked on thinning juniper? The better question is where haven’t we done this work! Juniper thinning has taken place at Rimrock Ranch (2022-2025), Whychus Canyon Preserve (2012, 2022), Priday Ranch (2021-2025), Aspen Hollow Preserve (2019-2023), Willow Springs Preserve (2023), Camp Polk Meadow Preserve (2022), and Paulina Creek Preserve (2025).

Creek Restoration

Historically, many of the meadows along Whychus Creek used to dry out and become brown in the summer, but today this is beginning to change. Creek restoration projects at Rimrock Ranch, Whychus Canyon Preserve, and Camp Polk Meadow Preserve have helped bring back lush, green summer vegetation, improved groundwater levels, and helped Whychus Creek spread out and interact more freely with the surrounding meadows. This not only helps our fish, wildlife, and native plants thrive, but also helps areas bounce back when a wildfire does come through.

Working together, we can make Central Oregon’s natural areas stronger in the face of wildfire. We hope you’ll join us as we continue with this important work.

 

Learn more:

• East Cascade Dry Forests
• The Land Trust’s Restoration Work
• Aspen Hollow Preserve Forest Restoration
• Rimrock Ranch Creek Restoration
• Whychus Canyon Preserve Forest Restoration