Forest Service in Oregon and Washington allocated $291.2 million to address effects of natural disasters from 2019-2021

The USDA Forest Service in the Pacific Northwest has been allocated $291.2 million in disaster relief supplemental funding to address damage caused by the wildfires, floods, and extreme weather events the region experienced in 2019, 2020 and 2021. The funds will go to priority road and bridge repair, hazardous material/waste removal, watershed restoration, and other critical recovery needs on National Forest lands.

The funding is a share of the $1.36 billion of supplemental appropriations provided to the Forest Service through the Extending Government Funding and Delivering Emergency Assistance Act of 2021. The act provided a total of $28.6 billion in new supplemental appropriations for disaster relief recovery to federal agencies.

Most of the funding, $262.7 million, will be used in Oregon, with $254.6 made available to eight National Forests and the Forest Service Regional Office to address critical needs from the 2020 wildfires and Labor Day windstorm. $6 million is designated for recovery needs in Oregon on non-Federal lands. $2.1 million is allocated for the Pacific Northwest Research Station.

$28.5 million will be used in Washington State, with $18.1 million made available to six National Forests and the Forest Service Regional Office to address critical needs due to wildfires and storms across the state. $9 million is designated for recovery needs in Washington on non-Federal lands. $1.4 million is allocated for the Pacific Northwest Research Station.

Total disaster relief funding received on the Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest is $30 million, with $27 million for post-Slater Fire recovery and $3 million for J. Herbert Stone Nursery operations to support reforestation efforts across the Pacific Northwest Region of the Forest Service.

It is important to note that disaster relief funding is multi-year funding that will require preliminary design and/or environmental analysis prior to project implementation.

Disaster Relief Funds-Wild Rivers Ranger District: (post fire recovery: Slater Fire) 

• Roadside danger tree removal        
• 7.5 miles of chip seal on Forest Service Road 48, including 8 large culvert replacements        
• 100 miles of road maintenance during danger tree removal activities
• 25 miles of primary road resurfacing
• 54 miles of forest boundary replacement
  

Disaster Relief Funds-J. Herbert Stone Nursery: (post-fire restoration: region-wide)

• The building of a new containerized seedling growing facility
• Two new nursery combines for native seed production used for post-fire restoration needs
• New equipment for boxing harvested native plant seed and updating to a ducted drying system
• Hire 4 seasonal employees to work on see harvest and seedling production for forest restoration