The West Bend Prescribed Fire Pilot Project

West of Bend, Oregon lies a forest landscape, once shaped by regular low‑intensity fire, that today faces a very different reality: denser trees, heavier fuels, and increased wildfire risk. The 2024 West Bend Prescribed Fire Pilot Project was designed to address this challenge.
With collaboration among land‑managers, public‑health officials, and local community members, the project demonstrated that it is possible to increase the pace, scale, and quality of prescribed fire, while also minimizing smoke
impacts on nearby communities.

The forests west of Bend evolved with frequent low-intensity fire. Over the past century, fire suppression has created unhealthy, overcrowded forests and increased the risk of high‑severity wildfires. By reintroducing carefully planned prescribed fire, we can restore ecological health and help protect communities, recreation areas, and critical watershed values.

● Increase the pace and scale of prescribed burning in the West Bend project area.
● Improve the quality and ecological outcomes of burns.
● Coordinate closely with public health agencies to reduce smoke impacts.
● Demonstrate a scalable model that other communities and forest landscapes can adopt.

Planning for the pilot took place throughout late 2023 and early 2024. The prescribed burns occurred in the spring of 2024 during carefully selected weather windows. Forest workers, fire crews, and air‑quality specialists worked side‑by‑side to ensure burns were safe, effective, and well‑communicated.

● Nearly ten times the acreage typically treated in the same area was successfully burned in one season.
● Air‑quality monitoring and community surveys collected during operations helped improve communication and mitigation strategies.
● The pilot demonstrated that large‑scale prescribed burning can be done safely when land‑managers and public‑health agencies work closely together.

This project builds on more than 15 years of community engagement led by the Deschutes Collaborative Forest Project. That long-standing social license, public trust, understanding, and involvement, made it possible to carry out this work. Future prescribed burning efforts will continue to prioritize clear
communication, public health coordination, and shared responsibility for caring for these forests.

● Sign up for local prescribed fire alerts.
● Learn how to prepare indoor spaces for smoke‑ready days.
● Support continued collaborative forest restoration across Central Oregon.