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National Fire Plan Success Story

Summer Homes Fuel Reduction
Mt. Hood National Forest, Zigzag Ranger District, Oregon
National Fire Plan - Fuels Reduction
2005

Road 12A before treatment.
Road 12A before treatment.

Road 12A after treatment.
Road 12A after treatment.

During the summer of 2005, a cooperative workforce consisting of The Clackamas County Environmental Youth Corps, Hoodland Fire Department and the USDA Forest Service began implementing a wildland urban interface fuels reduction project on the Mt. Hood National Forest. The project was located in the summer homes area of the Zigzag Ranger District (southeast of Portland on the lower slopes of Mt. Hood). The Zigzag summer homes program, initiated in 1914, is the second largest of it’s sort in the National Forest System and consists of 554 privately owned cabins on leased National Forest land. An assessment by the Forest Service concluded that vegetative conditions in the summer homes area would hamper emergency vehicle access and increase fire potential around structures.

The project’s goal was to improve emergency vehicle access to the summer homes area through brush and small tree removal along the summer home road system, and along the driveways to the homes. Vegetation impinging on the road or driveway was cut and overhanging branches were pruned. The resulting slash was piled, and either removed or burned in place during the fall of 2005 by the Forest Service. The project took place from June to September of 2005.

The work was completed by twenty young men from the ages of 14 to 18 from the Clackamas County Environmental Youth Corps (CCEYC). The Forest Service and Hoodland Fire Department provided one person each to coordinate and oversee the project. These agency liaisons operated power saws and power pruners while the CCEYC used loppers and other hand tools to clear the brush. In all nearly 10 miles of road and nearly 400 driveways were brushed. The crew had a safe, accident free summer. Funding for the project was through a Title III grant awarded through Clackamas County.

For more information on the project, contact Bill Westbrook, bwestbrook@fs.fed.us, (503) 622-3191.