Thick timber near the Antone Ranch, part of the Greater Waterman area in Wheeler County. Working with landowners, the Wheeler SWCD and NRCS will work to mitigate fire risk and improve soil conditions from overgrazing.
An outline of the activities included in the Greater Waterman Landscape Resiliency Project.
Wheeler SWCD mark Scotch Thistle in the Waterman area. A combination of crowded timber, invasive weeds, a wet spring and hot summer culminated in the Shoe Fly Fire, which burned more than 26,000 acres in September. The Wheeler SWCD will use funds from the Waterman Project Grant on restoration actions.
Wildfire destroyed more than 26,000 acres in the Shoe Fly Fire, which is located within the Greater Waterman area. Dense timber that has not been fell, along with invasive juniper creep, created a dangerous scenario for wildfires.
The Shoe Fly Fire burned more than 26,00 acres in the heart of the Greater Waterman RCPP. With local landowners, the Wheeler SWCD and NRCS hope to mitigate the risk of fire.
The Wheeler Soil and Water Conservation District (SWCD) has been awarded $21.2 million for the Greater Waterman area. The project area encompasses private land along the northern border of the Ochoco National Forest, and the Waterman Flats area along the eastern county border between Highways 19 and 207 South.
The five-year project will kickoff in 2026 and will cover a sprawling 338,596 acres. The priorities are to conserve, restore, and enhance critical range and forest lands in the Middle John Day Basin with the metric goal of implementing practices on at least 23,000 acres.
Wheeler SWCD partnered with the National Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), 92 landowners in Waterman area, as well as with Sustainable Northwest, a 501c3 non-profit organization that focuses on natural resource solutions.
"For about a year and a half, we worked with DelRae Ferguson with NRCS and Jordan Zettle with Sustainable Northwest to build this project," Wheeler SWCD District Manager Cassi Newton said. "The project builds on the work that NRCS and Wheeler SWCD have been doing in the North Slope of the Ochoco National Forest since 2018. However, with limited funding capacity, the producer projects have been small-scale. There is a significant need for large-scale, full landscape restoration."
At the Wheeler County local workgroup meetings in 2022 and in 2023, landowners met with staff from NRCS and Wheeler SWCD, and asked for support in the Waterman area.
To better understand the needs and concerns of landowners, the Wheeler SWCD direct mailed surveys with return postage to landowners in the project area. The surveys helped NRCS and Wheeler SWCD to target specific needs, based on the experiences of landowners.
Through the survey and in conversations with Ferguson and Newton, landowners reported their concerns of the current condition of the range and forestland, and risks of catastrophic wildfire. Forestlands in the project area are overstocked due to decades of fire suppression, resulting in poor forest health and high risk of catastrophic fire. Ochoco National Forest recently showcased tree mortality rates of 30-50% along the National Forest boundary, on the southern border of the project area.
Newton said that producers in the project area are implementing restoration projects on their own and with agency assistance, and eager to do more, resulting in a growing partnership that developed this project.
After the Wheeler SWCD submitted the grant, a large fire struck this year in the heart of the Greater Waterman area, when the Shoefly Fire burned 26,774 acres of timber and rangeland.
Newton says that fortunately, the grant funds can be used to help restore the area impacted by the Shoe Fly Fire.
"That's the cool thing about this project," Newton said. "With the priorities we chose, we can do resiliency work and fire recovery."
Newton says that the Shoe Fly Fire showed how badly the project is needed and that rangeland and forest resiliency in the Greater Waterman area is a priority.
In the coming year, Wheeler SWCD and NRCS, along with Sustainable Northwest, will begin project planning with the 92 landowners in the Greater Waterman area.
And while the funding amount is significant, Newton says that there is a considerable amount of work ahead. She says that Wheeler SWCD anticipates the potential to hire a new staff member. And landowners will be the driving force behind the project and will work in partnership with SWCD staff.
Without a doubt, there is a significant amount of work ahead.
"The award of our Greater Waterman RCPP project brings a renewed excitement following the devastation of the 2024 wildfire season in Wheeler County" said Cassi Newton, District Manager for the Wheeler Soil & Water Conservation District. "This project truly started at the local level with landowners eager to restore and protect the landscape. The project fosters future conditions that reduce catastrophic wildfire risk, return critical water to the basin, generate natural climate solutions that secure carbon, and meet the current and future economic and social needs of the basin. Wheeler SWCD is sincerely thankful for the partnerships that aided in developing this project.
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