As the 2026 wildfire season begins its transition toward containment in the Pacific Northwest, land management agencies are turning their attention to fall prescribed burning — the deliberate, carefully managed use of fire to reduce hazardous fuel loads and restore natural fire cycles to fire-adapted ecosystems.

ODF Training Burn at Bald Hill Farm

The Oregon Department of Forestry has announced plans for a prescribed training burn at the Greenbelt Land Trust's Bald Hill Farm property northeast of Philomath, targeting up to 40 acres of restored native prairie habitat. The burn is designed to achieve multiple goals: reducing encroachment of invasive species, promoting native bunchgrass and wildflower communities, and providing hands-on fire management training for ODF personnel.

ODF officials note that burning restored prairie has ecological benefits that complement mechanical treatments, as periodic low-intensity fire is a natural part of the Willamette Valley prairie ecosystem. The burn is contingent on favorable weather conditions — specifically adequate wind speed and direction to ensure smoke disperses safely, low fire spread risk, and sufficient fuel moisture to allow controlled burning without escape risk.

Why Prescribed Fire Matters After a Record Season

The logic behind fall prescribed burning is straightforward: the catastrophic wildfire season just experienced is, in large part, a consequence of a century of fire suppression that has allowed fuels to accumulate far beyond what historically fire-adapted landscapes would carry. Every year of fire exclusion adds to the deficit; every prescribed burn chips away at it.

Research consistently shows that areas treated with prescribed fire within the preceding five to ten years experience significantly lower fire severity when wildfires do occur. For Pacific Northwest forests, the difference between a treated and untreated stand can mean the difference between a fire that stays in the understory and one that torches into the canopy and makes a devastating run.

Challenges and Opportunities

Despite broad scientific consensus on the value of prescribed fire, programs face persistent challenges:

  • Liability concerns: Landowners and agencies worry about escaped prescribed burns, which can result in costly legal exposure. Oregon law provides some prescribed fire practitioner protections, but advocates say more robust liability reform is needed.
  • Air quality windows: Smoke management requirements limit when burns can occur, as air quality regulators restrict burning on days when smoke would push communities over health-based thresholds.
  • Workforce capacity: The same chronic shortage of trained wildland firefighters that limits suppression also constrains prescribed fire programs.
  • Budget: After a catastrophically expensive suppression season, prescribed fire programs often receive funding cuts even as advocates argue they are the most cost-effective fire risk reduction investment.

New Hazard Pay Extends to Prescribed Burns

A recent federal rule change — effective September 14, 2026 — now extends 25% hazard pay to federal wildland firefighters working prescribed burns. Previously, hazard pay applied only during uncontrolled wildfire suppression. The change is expected to improve recruitment and retention for prescribed fire programs, potentially accelerating the pace of fuels treatment across federal lands in Oregon, Washington, and Idaho.

Residents near planned prescribed burn areas can check ODF's burn notification page or sign up for local air quality alerts to receive advance notice when burning is planned in their area.