Protecting Communities Impacted by Fire

Fire is part of the natural history of the West yet it presents big challenges for people who build their homes in these landscapes. For forests, fire is a force of destruction and renewal. Fire kills trees, and after new life rapidly emerges. Yet some western politicians continue to demonize fire, and promise to control it. The reality is that fire is mostly driven by drought and wind, not the amount of vegetation on the ground. Fire burns through grasslands, shrub lands and forests, and studies have shown that logging our forests actually increases fire risk.
As the Eagle Creek fire burned in the Gorge, Congressman Walden proposed to open up the Scenic Area to "management" and what he had in mind was post-fire logging. As the rains came and put the fire out, Crag Law Center worked with Gorge residents, spent time in the charcoal forests with kids from Cascade Locks, and helped support the community in rejecting Walden's misguided plan.