Eugene, OR–Several private timberland owners and managers in Western Oregon, including Seneca Sawmill, have closed their land to public access.
Due to drought conditions and above-average temperatures, agencies have been predicting a bad fire season in Oregon. Oregon has already experienced three times as many fires as usual this year, and Oregon Department of Forestry’s SW Oregon District started its fire season on May 1, which was the earliest start since 1968.
State parks and all national forests in Oregon have closed recreation sites including trails, campgrounds, day-use areas and boat launches due to the coronavirus pandemic. Federal, state and local officials have been urging people to “do the right thing” by staying home, but as millions of acres of public lands in Oregon have been closed to recreation, the public’s use of private lands has increased dramatically.
Whereas public lands often have infrastructure to help keep people safe, such as trails for people to hike on or fire rings in campgrounds to contain campfires, private timberlands do not have the infrastructure to handle the surge in public visits safely.
Since about 70 percent of Oregon’s wildfires are started by people, the spike in public visits to private land has the potential to be dangerous. To compound the issue, wildland firefighting will be less efficient with social distancing and other COVID-19 restrictions.
“It’s not only dry and shaping up to be a bad fire season, but because of COVID-19, firefighters and community members face even greater harm,” said Todd Payne, CEO of Seneca. The company has timberlands in Benton, Linn, Lane, Douglas, Coos and Josephine counties.
With a combined timberland acreage of around 600,000 acres, Seneca, Lone Rock Resources, Giustina Resources, Campbell Global, and Giustina Land & Timber Co. closed public access to their lands in Benton, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Jackson, Josephine, Lane, Linn, and Polk counties.
Learn more by visiting www.senecasawmill.com.
