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Lower Deschutes Wildfire Restoration and Prevention

County: Sherman

Primary Resource Concern: 

  • Degraded plant condition - Plant productivity and health
  • Plant pest pressure
  • Fire management - Wildfire hazard from biomass accumulation
  • Terrestrial habitat - Terrestrial habitat for wildlife and invertebrates
  • Livestock production limitation - Inadequate livestock water quantity, quality and distribution

Project Description
The goal of this strategy is to assist landowners within the Lower Deschutes region of Sherman County with maintaining and building upon initial fire restoration efforts that took place after the 2018 wildfires through additional treatments and conservation work.  It will also provide an opportunity for landowners to implement wildfire prevention and preparedness conservation practices on their operation. Vegetation management determines the overall presence of fuel loads, which is a dominant factor contributing to catastrophic wildfires. Such a broad resource concern requires targeted efforts in the region of the county most heavily impacted by these disastrous events.

There is a long fire history in this area, with recent history showing wildfires occurred every year since at least 2013 along this portion of the river. The Lower Deschutes was chosen as a priority region, not only because of the 2018 fires, but also its strategic location on Sherman County’s western border. Prevailing winds come from the west, so to protect Sherman County from fire events that take place in Wasco County or at sites along the river, we need fire protection at this border. Wildfires threaten human lives and farmers’ livelihoods as well as local, regional, and national infrastructure.

Conservation Practices

  • Brush Management (314)
  • Herbaceous Weed Treatment (315)
  • Critical Area Planting (342)
  • Fence (382)
  • Monitoring Well (353)
  • Firebreak (394)
  • Wildlife Habitat Planting (420)
  • Livestock Pipeline (516)
  • Prescribed Grazing (528)
  • Pumping Plant (533)
  • Range Planting (550)
  • Access Road (560)
  • Heavy Use Area Protection (561)
  • Spring Development (574)
  • Tree/Shrub Site Preparation (490)
  • Tree/Shrub Establishment (612)
  • Watering Facility (614)
  • Water Harvesting Catchment (636)
  • Water Well (642)
  • Restoration of Rare or Declining Natural Communities (643)
  • Wetland Wildlife Habitat Management (644)
  • Structures for Wildlife (649)
  • Obstruction Removal (500)
  • Prescribed Burning (338)

Collaborating Partners

  • Sherman County Soil and Water Conservation District
  • NRCS Oregon
  • Private landowners

Application Questions
NRCS uses prioritization questions to evaluate applications for this initiative. See the list of workload prioritization questions on the Oregon EQIP page. Ranking questions below will also apply.

Ranking Questions

  1. Does the application include fuels reduction practices? (e.g. brush management, herbaceous weed treatment, prescribed or grazing)
  2. Will Fuel breaks or firebreaks be installed?
  3. Does the application include development of water sources to increase availability of water for fire suppression purpose?
  4. Is the applicant working with the local SWCD to install a complimentary project that increases the magnitude of conservation benefits?
  5. Was any land included in the application previously treated during the FY 18/19 disaster recovery?
  6. Does the conservation practice address the resource concerns noted by ODA during the SIA valuation process? 
  7. Does the application include development of water sources to improve livestock distribution?
  8. The conservation plan includes practice that will restore rangeland to the ecological site description? (Tree / shrub planting, range planting, conservation planting, herbaceous application)