This map shows where the U.S. Forest Service proposes to thin the forest along ridges, roads, trails and nearby to create fuel breaks that could some day help to stop the spread of wildfires.

Fire and fuels specialists with the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest have been scoping out four strategic locations along ridgetops, roads and trails southwest of Ashland where work crews would thin the forest for about 500 feet on each side of miles-long “fuel breaks” so that wildland firefighters could make a stand there if needed.

Formal proposals to create the fuel breaks were presented in July, followed by a public comment period that ended in October, with a decision expected early next year to determine if the proposals meet federal criteria.

“We did receive quite a few comments and we’re refining our proposals,” said Lindsey Negherbon of the Forest Service.

People may still comment and have their concerns considered, she said.

The proposed locations include the McDonald Peak area west of Mount Ashland, Sevenmile Ridge west of the peak, Elliott Ridge east of Applegate Lake and the Little Grayback Trail area northwest of the lake. The shortest fuel break would be about 4 miles; the longest would be about 15. They could be years in the making.

“It is a big deal,” said Livia Stecker, a spokeswoman with the Forest Service. “We should be doing more of them. It’s a challenge because there’s so many considerations.”

Considerations include “environmental, social and political concerns,” she said.

There’s cultural and natural resources to protect and neighboring property owners to consider, as well as climate change, local weather patterns and more. Legal challenges are possible.

The stakes are relatively high because wildfire behavior has changed dramatically this century, she said.

“They’re getting bigger and hotter,” she said.

Fuels have built up in the forest due to decades of fire suppression.

The fuel breaks won’t be clear-cuts, but smaller live trees will be taken, up to 8 inches in diameter, according to the proposal. Brush will be cut and burned.

The agency, Stecker said, is “highly motivated” to do the work.

The agency recently posted to social media photographs taken last month during a field trip with community members to the McDonald Peak area.

“The fuel breaks will be located to prioritize community and firefighter protection,” the agency stated.

Details about the project are posted online, at bit.ly/3sCSdzH. For more information, contact Negherbon at 541-899-3823.

Mountain Club lobbies council on sandwich boards

Gabe Howe, executive director of the Siskiyou Mountain Club, has sent a letter to Ashland City Council asking it to rescind a city regulation prohibiting certain “sandwich boards” outside downtown businesses.

“We are asking [the council] to allow for removable signboards in downtown so long as they don’t impede foot traffic,” he wrote.

Howe attached an online petition signed by more than 50 people.

The signs are allowed by permit if they meet certain specifications and are within 10 feet of a business entrance, but a city code enforcement specialist on Nov. 7 notified the club that it continued to have an unpermitted “A-frame” sign placed on the sidewalk and that it had to remove it.

“Since we’ve been forced to take our sign boards down, we have experienced a decrease in foot traffic,” Howe wrote. “Being down here at the end of Main Street in the old Underground Marketplace, signage was a critical marketing tool to bring people to our visitor’s desk where we provide free information, itineraries, and education for visitors and locals who want to enjoy the great outdoors.”

The signs are important to other businesses, too, many of them still recovering from the pandemic, he said.

“This is especially critical and urgent as we emerge into the holiday shopping season,” he said.

Climate Action group reaches fundraising goal

Southern Oregon Climate Action Now has surpassed its recent fundraising goal of $90,000 and expects to advertise for its first executive director.

“Here’s to a new level of climate action and an even larger footprint for SOCAN moving forward!” Hogan Sherrow, the organization’s board president, wrote in an announcement.

SOCAN, established in 2012, promotes awareness about global warming “and the climate chaos it is imposing,” according to the announcement. The organization seeks to stimulate individual and collective action and has grown to several hundred activist supporters, along with a mailing list of more than 2,000.

Over the years, SOCAN has provided testimony, advice and educational presentations, including its annual Master Climate Protector course.

Additional details about the campaign are available online, at socan.eco/2023campaign/. For more information, contact Alan Journet, co-facilitator, at 541-301-4107.