Hult Dam spillway (BLM photo)

Springfield, Ore. — The Bureau of Land Management is announcing a proposal to remove Hult Dam in the interest of public safety. After years of analysis, public input, and planning, BLM officials selected removal of the dam as its preferred alternative in the final environmental impact statement released today, determining that the most responsible and safest way forward is to decommission and remove the dam.

“Community input has been crucial in helping us reimagine the area,” said Dennis Teitzel, BLM Northwest Oregon District Manager. “Decommissioning the dam allows us to address public safety concerns while continuing to offer outdoor recreation in the area.”

Despite ongoing maintenance efforts to protect public safety, the dam has received multiple cautionary ratings in recent decades. If no action is taken, assessments indicate that the existing dam would likely fail in the coming years. Dam failure could result in potential damage to critical infrastructure downstream, as well as potential loss of life. BLM’s proposed alternative includes removing the dam and reestablishing a natural stream channel, restoring riparian and wetland areas, and improving recreational facilities in the area, including construction of a new day-use area.

The Hult Dam, located in the Lake Creek watershed near Horton, was built in the 1930s or 1940s to create a log-holding pond for the Hult Lumber Company. Today, the BLM manages the area for recreational and historical purposes, which will continue under the proposed plan.

To learn more about the project, visit the project webpage: https://www.blm.gov/programs/planning-and-nepa/plans-in-development/oregon-washington/hult-dam

To view planning documents and learn more about the EIS process, visit the ePlanning site: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/99598/510

To receive quarterly updates on the project, email BLM_OR_NO_SIU_Hult_Dam_EIS@blm.gov.

-BLM- 

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. 

Salem, OR. – Starting July 23, campfires will be prohibited on all Bureau of Land Management public lands throughout the Northwest Oregon District. BLM leaders encourage all visitors to be aware of active restrictions and closures as hotter, drier weather sets in around the Pacific Northwest.

In addition to fires and campfires, the stronger restrictions also prohibit smoking in vegetated areas; using vehicles in unmanaged vegetated areas; operating a chainsaw; welding, cutting or grinding; or using an internal combustion engine without a spark arrestor. These prohibitions will stay in effect until rescinded.

These level II fire restrictions help reduce the risk of human-caused fires. They build on the BLM’s statewide fire restrictions prohibiting fireworks, exploding targets or metallic targets, steel component ammunition (core or jacket), tracer or incendiary devices, and sky lanterns, which went effect May 24.

Those who violate the prohibition may be fined up to $100,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 12 months. In addition, those found responsible for starting wildland fires on federal lands can be billed for the cost of fire suppression.

For the complete order and more information on seasonal fire restrictions and fire closures, please see www.blm.gov/orwafire.

To learn more about fire careers with BLM Oregon-Washington, please see https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire/state-info/oregon-washington/careers.

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Dorena, Ore. — The Bureau of Land Management Northwest Oregon District has temporarily closed BLM-managed public lands because of multiple fires in the area southeast of Cottage Grove, within the Sharps Creek and Clark Creek areas. The closure is for public and firefighter safety, and to allow fire suppression crews to continue to safely respond to the incident. 

The closure order closes the Sharps Creek Campground and encompasses BLM-managed public lands southeast of the town of Dorena, surrounding Sharps Creek Road (County Road 2460 / BLM Road No. 23-1-12) and Clark Creek Road (BLM Road No. 23-1-13). This includes BLM lands in Township 22S, Range 1W, and Township 23S, Range 1W, Sections 1-3, 11-14, 22-24, 26-27, 33-34. The closure also includes Sharps Creek Road and Clark Creek Road. Members of the public may not enter closed areas, and all uses—including hiking, mining, hunting and dispersed camping—are prohibited. Sharps Creek Road and Clark Creek Road remain open to residents within the closure area. For additional information and the closure map, visit https://www.blm.gov/orwafire. 

As it becomes safe to do so, firefighters will begin to assess the closure and their impacts in alignment with sound risk management practices. 

BLM Northwest Oregon District has additional fire closures and fire restriction information available on BLM.GOV.  

Please call 911 to report any signs of new fires. 

-BLM- 

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. 

HINES, Ore. – The Bureau of Land Management has tentative plans to gather wild horses within and immediately adjacent to the Souths Steens Herd Management Area in southeast Oregon. The helicopter gather would begin around August 15, and BLM officials propose to remove approximately 760 excess wild horses.

The Wild-Free Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 gives BLM the direction for protecting and overseeing wild horses and burros on public lands. In managing these animals, the BLM works to maintain a thriving ecological balance that supports healthy horses on healthy rangelands. The South Steens HMA can sustainably support 159 to 304 horses, while allowing for other animals and resource uses. The current population estimate is 781 adults and 165 foals. 

“This gather would be a critical part of our effort to promote animal welfare on the range,” said Don Rotell, BLM Andrews/Steens Field Office Manager. 

The gather would also reduce degradation of public lands by the over-sized herd. Animals gathered from the range would be transported to Oregon’s Wild Horse Corral Facility in Hines. At the corral, about 70 horses would be selected for return to the range, up to 35 of which would be mares treated with PZP or PZP-22 contraceptive. The remaining horses would be prepared for adoption or sale into private care.

The South Steens HMA is about 70 miles southwest of Burns and 10 miles south of Frenchglen along Highway 205 and the Steens Mountain south loop road. 

Supporting National Environmental Policy Act documents for this gather are available at https://tinyurl.com/3zz48hd4. A Determination of NEPA Adequacy is currently in progress and will determine gather execution. The public is welcome to observe the gather. Details on viewing opportunities are available at the same location. 

The gather would last approximately ten days, though exact start and end dates will be determined by the contractor’s availability. For more information, contact Tara Thissell at tthissell@blm.gov or (541) 573-4519.

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. In Fiscal Year 2015, the BLM generated $4.1 billion in receipts from activities occurring on public lands.
 

Medford, Oregon – As a result of the Salt Creek Fire, the Bureau of Land Management Butte Falls Field Office has temporarily closed BLM-managed lands in the area for public and firefighter safety. Members of the public may not enter closed areas, and all uses—including hiking, hunting and dispersed camping—are prohibited. 

The closure order encompasses the BLM lands within the affected evacuation zones. This includes BLM lands south of Butte Falls Highway, north of Highway 140, and east of Salt Creek Road to the USFS boundary. Please see the map for full closure information on the BLM website: https://www.blm.gov/orwafire 

Public and firefighter safety are the highest priority. The closure will allow fire suppression crews to continue to safely respond to the incident. As it becomes safe to do so, firefighters will begin to assess the closure and their impacts in alignment with sound risk management practices.

For the latest road and weather condition updates, visit https://www.tripcheck.com/. BLM Medford District has additional fire closures and fire restriction information available on BLM.GOV.

Please call 911 to report any signs of new fires. 

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. 

Salem, OR. – On July 8th, fire restrictions will go into effect for all Bureau of Land Management public lands throughout the Northwest Oregon District. BLM leaders encourage all visitors to be aware of active restrictions and closures as warmer, drier weather sets in around the Pacific Northwest.

These fire restrictions help reduce the risk of human-caused fires. The BLM Oregon/Washington statewide Fire Restrictions went into effect May 24th, prohibiting fireworks, exploding targets or metallic targets, steel component ammunition (core or jacket), tracer or incendiary devices, and sky lanterns.

To further reduce wildfire risk, the following is prohibited: fires and campfires except in designed areas, smoking in vegetated areas, vehicle use in unmanaged vegetated areas, operating a chainsaw, welding or using a torch, or using an internal combustion engine without a spark arrestor.  

This prohibition will become effective at 12:01 a.m. PDT on the 8th day of July 2024 and will remain in effect until rescinded.

Those who violate the prohibition may be fined up to $100,000 and/or imprisoned for up to 12 months. In addition, those found responsible for starting wildland fires on federal lands can be billed for the cost of fire suppression.

For the complete order and more information on seasonal fire restrictions and fire closures, please see www.blm.gov/orwafire.

To learn more about fire careers with BLM Oregon-Washington, please see https://www.blm.gov/programs/public-safety-and-fire/fire/state-info/oregon-washington/careers.

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Mill City, Ore. — The Bureau of Land Management will temporarily close Fishermen's Bend Recreation Site, located in Mill City, Oregon, for hazard tree removal from July 8–10, 2024.

The entirety of the popular recreation site will be closed. The work will pave the way for the Bureau of Land Management to rebuild the site, which was affected by wildfire in 2020.

“We are removing dead and dying trees that the shallow soils in Fishermen’s Bend can no longer support,” said Lauren Woras, BLM Outdoor Recreation Planner. “It is essential to remove all hazards, including trees, prior to the major construction we are planning for site rebuild. Leaving trees that have more potential to fail is unsafe for the public and could be damaging to the new construction.”

According to Woras, new construction is not the only goal of the hazard tree removal. 

“Recently, drier soils have made it more difficult for the trees to survive and more are dying each year,” she said. “The trees have become more susceptible to weather conditions such as freezing or wind break.”

Hazard tree removal will make way for new species more suited for the environment to regenerate within the area.

The Bureau of Land Management asks the public to stay away from the area while crews perform their work due to the danger posed by falling trees. The site will reopen during clean-up. During this time, Woras asks the public to be mindful and stay away from heavy machinery while recreating in the park.

Surrounded by the tranquility of the North Santiam River, Fishermen’s Bend is a family-friendly park. Please remember to follow BLM Oregon/Washington fire restrictions, particularly during the summer months. To learn more about the recreation site, visit the Bureau of Land Management’s website.

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Prineville, Ore. — Last week, wildfire broke out on public lands near the community of La Pine, Oregon. Fortunately, decades of land treatments performed by the Bureau of Land Management helped stop the fire in its tracks.

The Darlene 3 Fire began the afternoon of Tuesday, June 25, in Deschutes County. By Thursday, it had grown to over 3,000 acres.

The west flank of the fire headed towards the city of La Pine, home to over 2,000 people and located just 30 miles southwest of Bend. Decades of extensive fuel treatments in the area performed by the BLM Prineville District Division of Fire and Aviation Management and partners, as well as a rapid response from local fire teams, prevented the fire from reaching the town.

“This outcome was the result of a series of fuel treatments, not just one,” said James Osborne, BLM Prineville District Fire Management Officer. “Extensive fuel treatments around the city of La Pine done over numerous years have been highly effective in stopping previous fires as well as this one. We continue to see that benefit.”

“The Bureau of Land Management has been doing work in this area since the eighties, since before they were called fuels treatments,” said Rob Fore, BLM Prineville District Fuels Program Manager. “But in recent years, we have been more strategic. We are intentional with the kind of fuels treatments we choose and where we line them up on the landscape.”

These intentional treatments include hand thinning, mowing, masticating, and prescribed burning. BLM teams completed hand thinning work, or the wintertime piling of materials to later burn, as recently as 2021.

Wildfire prevention is not the only goal of fuels treatments.

“Treatments don’t just reduce hazard fuels to help firefighters protect communities,” said Alison Dean, BLM Prineville District Fire Ecologist. “They also help restore the historical fire regime and the ecological health of the forest. They allow forests to regain resiliency to insect infestations and climate change as well as future fires.”

The work doesn’t stop after one success. Along with continued community engagement with fire suppression partners across central Oregon, BLM fire and aviation teams will continue tending to the land.

“The longevity of these treatments is ten to fifteen years max,” said Dean. “They need maintenance. The brush will be back.”

“We have done and will continue to do maintenance around La Pine,” said Osborne. “We plan to continue maintenance treatments as well as begin new treatments on our own and with our partners.”

To help prevent wildfires, learn more about the Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington’s fire restrictions.

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in 12 western states, including Alaska, on behalf of the American people. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. Our mission is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of America’s public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations.

Who: Anita Bilbao, Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington Associate State Director with longtime connection to Portland

Date: Week of July 1st  

Where: Virtually or onsite at the Edith Green - Wendell Wyatt Federal Building

Portland, Ore. –  Anita Bilbao, Bureau of Land Management Oregon/Washington Associate State Director, is available to speak on the recent upswing of Portland. Her connection to the city began when she studied at Lewis & Clark College and later Portland State University. In Portland, she began her 25-year long career with the BLM. “It has been the people who have made my experiences in Portland memorable.” Recently, she has seen the changes the city has undergone. “While Portland has gone through a lot, I see a bright future for our vibrant city.”

RSVP: Jeanne Panfely, jpanfely@blm.gov

-BLM-

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land located primarily in the 11 Western states and Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. In fiscal year 2018, the diverse activities authorized on BLM-managed lands generated $105 billion in economic output across the country. This economic activity supported 471,000 jobs and contributed substantial revenue to the U.S. Treasury and state governments, mostly through royalties on minerals.