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hires crews of young people from the Heart of Oregon Corps as well. This involves hard physical work such as wielding chainsaws and shovels for clearing of the trees, brush and ladder fuels. The HOA Board and Budget Committee continue to support these efforts by dedicating significant funds for fire abatement in each year’s budget.

Volunteers are also an important part of fire prevention here on the ranch. This includes active residents utilizing their own equipment led by dedicated board members. They have cleared the lower pastures between Chinook and Buffalo roads to make them safer. Volunteers have muscled out boulders and thinned trees to make mowing of the pastures more accessible.

Maintenance Supervisor Mike Knoke estimates that Crooked River Ranch is several years away from becoming a truly fire adapted community and the work and efforts will continue to move forward for many years to come. Areas that have been treated 7 or more years ago are now needing to be readdressed even as new areas become identified for needed treatment.

Grant opportunities have now presented themselves and at this moment are pending, but if some of these get approved this would allow for the purchase of important and expensive equipment, with the possibility of creating a staff position completely dedicated to fire abatement.

Applying for these grants leads us to exciting possibilities, but being a resident in Crooked River Ranch or anywhere in Central Oregon, each property owner has a responsibility to clear their own area, cut the branches back on the trees and clear unnecessary garbage items from the property. If there is still a need, then seek assistance in having it evaluated by trained personnel from your local Fire Department. Something else a resident can do is to create a plan to include preparing their property in case of an emergency.

Places of referral are www. fireadapted.org, www.firesafe.or, www. crrfire.org, https://coic.org/cowwp, https://rdmfire.org. Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council, Heart of Oregon Corps and Central Oregon Wildfire Workforce Partnership.

We have chosen to live in beautiful Central Oregon and some, specifically Crooked River Ranch residents, have chosen to live within the Wildland Urban Interface. We all must work to preserve that space and to make sure our communities are safe from wildfire. Fuel reduction is a key element of that work. The excitement comes when everyone sees the results of the collective efforts put forth.

The Tangents