The Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Wildland Fire Service announced this week that prescribed burning operations will begin across Oregon and Washington as weather, fuel, and air quality conditions become favorable. The announcement, made from the agencies’ Portland office, signals the beginning of the fall and winter prescribed fire season — a critical window for proactive fuel reduction work.

Agency Statement

“Prescribed fire is one of our most effective tools for reducing wildfire risk and improving habitat,” said Josh O’Connor, Northwest Geographic Area Fire Chief for the U.S. Wildland Fire Service. “By carefully planning and executing these burns, we’re helping protect communities and strengthen the health of our public lands.”

Operations will use a range of techniques, from broadcast burning — applying fire across an entire treatment area — to targeted hand and machine pile ignitions. Priority areas include the Wildland-Urban Interface and landscapes with accumulated fuels from previous thinning operations.

Deschutes National Forest Already Active

On the Deschutes National Forest in central Oregon, prescribed burns are already underway on the Crescent Ranger District. Separate burns were planned approximately nine miles and seven miles southwest of Crescent in late September and early October, targeting areas near the Rivers North OHV Staging Area and the Two Rivers Reservoir. These burns are designed to reduce fuel loads in ponderosa pine forests that have seen years of fire exclusion.

Bridger-Teton National Forest Plans Extended Burns

Beyond the immediate Pacific Northwest, the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming is planning prescribed fires from October 1 through December 31, 2026, targeting the West Zone including Greys River and Kemmerer Ranger Districts. This work exemplifies a region-wide push by the Forest Service and BLM to use the fall window aggressively for fuel treatment.

What the Public Should Know

Residents and travelers near prescribed burn areas may encounter smoke. Agency guidance advises:

  • Smoke may settle in low-lying areas overnight during and after burns
  • Residents should close windows at night to minimize smoke impacts indoors
  • Drivers in smoky areas should slow down and use headlights
  • People with heart or lung conditions, asthma, or chronic illnesses should consult their doctor and monitor local air quality at AirNow.gov
  • All burns are conducted only when weather, fuel, and air quality are within prescribed parameters

Why Prescribed Burns Matter

After a season in which Oregon alone burned 2.1 million acres at a cost of $1.4 billion in suppression, the urgency of proactive fuel management is difficult to overstate. Decades of fire suppression across western forests have allowed fuels to accumulate to historically high levels. Prescribed burns, when conducted safely within weather windows, remove this combustible material before it can feed a catastrophic wildfire.

For information about specific upcoming burns in Oregon and Washington, visit the BLM’s Oregon/Washington prescribed fire information page or contact your local BLM or Forest Service district office.