| Inmates Work to Improve Forest Health |
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| Inmate Work Crews |
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Ochoco and Deschutes National Forests and Prineville District, Bureau of Land Management Office of Communications
Working as One to Serve Central Oregon
For Immediate Release Contacts:
May 2, 2002
Virginia Gibbons, USFS (541) 383-5522
Perrin Damon, ODOC (503) 945-0925
Inmate Crews Work to Improve Forest Health, Reduce Fire Hazard
Central Oregon – "Remember – Only you can prevent forest fires" is the traditional slogan of Smokey Bear. Again this summer, inmates from the Oregon Department of Corrections (DOC) are taking the mascot’s message to heart. For the fourth consecutive year, Corrections will partner with the U.S. Forest Service to restore forest health and reduce fire hazard on national forest lands in Central Oregon.
The "Deschutes Conservation Camp" will again work in the Ochoco and Deschutes National forests beginning May 5. The camp consists of 90 inmates supervised by Department of Corrections staff. Ten-man work crews are deployed six days a week under the technical direction of U.S. Forest Service employees.
The mobile work camp has recently received two prestigious awards. Last month a "Caring for the Land Award" was given to the Oregon Department of Corrections, the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Deschutes National Forest. It was presented by the U.S. Forest Service for creating a model partnership that last year reduced excess fuels in over 3,700 acres of forest land adjacent to communities at risk of wildfire in Central Oregon. In July staff representing the Deschutes Conservation Camp will receive a special Honor Award from the Secretaries of Agriculture and Interior in Washington, D.C. for maintaining and enhancing the Nation’s Natural Resources and Environment
Over the past three summers, inmates hand-piled over 8,000 acres of hazardous fuels in the wildland-urban interface surrounding the communities of Sisters, Crescent, Sunriver and LaPine.
"For every year over the past three years we have increased the quality and quantity of our work. This year is no exception," says Camp Commander Jeff Forbes. "Setting clear goals for productivity and achieving or surpassing those goals creates high morale and a safer, more-productive inmate workforce."
"Together with the Forest Service and local communities, we have created a national model in Central Oregon," reports DOC Director Dave Cook. "This project shows the power of partnerships among all levels of government – from local to national – to accomplish important work that might otherwise have gone undone and to teach inmates valuable work skills."
In addition to creating defensible spaces from wildfire around homes, inmates also completed more than four miles of fire line construction, pulled noxious weeds on 500 acres, completed mulch mat maintenance on 450 acres and maintained six miles of recreation trails. They also repaired the trail to Black Butte Lookout, and restored horse corrals and campsites near Crescent Lake.
In 2001, the total value of the work accomplished by the inmates was estimated at over $1.2 million, with a U.S. Forest Service investment of $460,000. The dollars saved were used to support additional Oregon Department of Forestry and contract fire crews for fire suppression and additional hazard reduction work.
The 2002 Deschutes Conservation Camp will focus on three major priorities for restoration on National Forest Lands in Central Oregon:
- Protecting homes and communities (Sisters, LaPine and Prineville);
- Protecting accessible municipal water supplies (Bend watershed); and
- Protecting threatened and endangered species habitat (work will be done in campgrounds to help prevent potential fires from spreading into adjacent owl and lynx habitat).
Only minimum-custody inmates are eligible to participate in the Deschutes Conservation Camp. Those selected for this assignment are within three years of completing their prison terms, have had acceptable behavior while incarcerated, and are supervised by correctional officers at all times.
Note to Editors and News Directors: If you are interested in visiting the Deschutes Conservation Camp, please call either contact person and we´ll arrange a visit to the camp and to the crews at their worksites.
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