As a Fire Mitigation Specialist with the Bureau of Land Management, Derek's responsibilities vary with the seasons. Spring finds him focused on community preparedness, including updating the Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) and organizing the annual Wildfire Preparedness Week event, also known as FireWise Day. During the summer, he divides his time between wildfire response, fire investigation, and overseeing fuels reduction projects. These projects, such as the Radar Hill Fuel Break and the Burns Butte Communications Facility treatment, often extend into the fall as weather permits. Winter is dedicated to planning future projects and exploring new ways to support the communities surrounding public lands. "The Burns Butte Communications Facility project is one of several wildfire mitigation projects that I am working on to help our community. This area was identified by the Community Wildfire Preparedness Plan as a critical infrastructure to our county and its importance to keep communications with the outside world." READ MORE

*In November, we talk about High Desert Partnership's expansive collaborative support system.

The sun beats down on a group of young adults, nets in hand, as they wade through a cool stream in the Malheur National Forest. To the casual observer, it might appear they're simply enjoying a summer day in nature. But these individuals are part of High Desert Partnership's (HDP) summer crew, and they're hard at work conducting stream habitat surveys in the surrounding forest land.

This summer, HDP assembled its largest crew ever—eight members split between stream and habitat teams that provide monitoring support to the Harney County Wildfire Collaborative, the Harney County Forest Restoration Collaborative and the Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative.  READ MORE. 

Last spring, the Harney Basin Wetlands Collaborative acquired an Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP). The ADCP was purchased using funds the collaborative received from the Oregon legislature for wetlands restoration.

It is a device that uses sound waves to measure the speed and direction of currents through the water column. The National Oceanic Atmospheric Administration, for example, uses ADCPs to understand how water moves, which in turn provides important information about biological, chemical and physical properties of the ocean.

The collaborative’s intent for the ADCP is to measure streamflow on the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and throughout the Harney Basin through the Donner und Blitzen River, the Silvies River and other streams in the basin.

Sarah Weber is an undergraduate student at the University of Oregon who has worked for the refuge for the last two summers as the substation management technician. The position involves irrigation and maintenance for the refuge. This summer, because of her interest in water quality, Weber was also put in charge of running the ADCP. “The goal of our research was to quantify the effect of management on both the quantity and the quality of water going through the refuge, particularly with quality pertaining to turbidity and temperature,” she said. Weber believes that information collected by the ADCP could be helpful to the refuge in determining its water budget equation.READ MORE

In this episode, “Talking with Kids About Becoming,” hear Oregon Humanities director and HDP board member Adam Davis and Children's Institute Rafael Otto chat with kids from Slater Elementary (Burns) and Highland Elementary (Grants Pass) about how their schools, towns, state and country shape who they are. They also share how other places—from different countries to other towns—play a role in their journey of self-discovery. Listen too for input from their parents and school administrators.⁠
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For more about this episode and Oregon Humanities, head here.