Millions of forests in the interior West face a high risk of catastrophic wildfires. The main cause of the problem is a buildup of undergrowth and small trees that cause wildfires to burn fiercely. A major initiative is underway to remove excess fuels in high-risk areas, but the lack of markets for small trees is a problem.

In 2001, the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) launched the Central Oregon Partnerships for Wildfire Risk Reduction (COPWRR) Project, whose goals are to reduce wildfire risk, enhance ecosystem health, and improve forest-based economies. The group identified a key need: a dependable supply of small diameter wood to attract businesses. The region’s supply of small wood fluctuated over the years, a factor in stalling investments in technology and employment.

The COPWRR created a Coordinated Resource Offering Protocol (CROP) initiative to help stabilize the regional wood supply. The Partnership agreed with the principle that ecosystem health, removing excess fuels, and reducing wild. re risk around communities should drive the supply.

The CROP selected two key strategies: 1) fostering markets to utilize biomass material from forest treatments, and 2) developing 10-year stewardship contracts. Stewardship contracts bundle land management tasks within a single long term contract, offering producers a steady supply of work and materials while bene. ting the forest and cutting administrative costs.

Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, USDA Forest Service, Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests; USDI Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Governor’s Central Region Community Solutions Team, Friends of the Metolius, Clean Air Committee, Sustainable Northwest, Oregon Solutions, 3E Strategies, Northwest Wood Products Association, Oregon Departments of Fish and Wildlife, and Forestry; Oregon Natural Resources Council, Sisters Forest Planning Committee, Warm Springs Tribes, and forest industries.

Oregon’s Governor designated the CROP initiative an Oregon Solu-tions project in 2003. The multi-interest group reached a consensus on purpose, goals, and implementation, signing a Declaration of Cooperation in January 2005. The Team’s activities include:

• Treating more than 28,000 acres per year to reduce hazardous fuels with a goal of 90,000 acres a year to address forest health, habitat improvement and biomass market stability.
• Fostering cooperative relationships to market and sell low-value trees.
• Developing and testing new harvesting techniques that are low impact on site soils and reduce skid trails.
• Launching a project monitoring protocol to measure progress on treatment goals, biomass market development, job creation, environmental effectiveness of treatments, and site impacts from tree harvests.