About COPWRR

The Central Oregon Partnerships for Wildfire Risk Reduction (COPWRR) is a collaborative effort among public agencies, forest products businesses, and environmental and sustainability organizations to reduce wildfire risk, restore forest ecosystems, and provide local jobs and income within Central Oregon’s forest communities. COPWRR seeks to achieve these goals through stakeholder dialogue, business assistance, monitoring, on-the-ground project development, and community education. COPWRR pursues a strategy of expanding markets for the small-diameter and woody biomass by-products of fuel treatments to enable treatment and restoration of more acres of forest and to stimulate local environmental and economic benefits. This collaborative project is staffed by the Central Oregon Intergovernmental Council (COIC) and actively engages over 30 diverse stakeholder organizations.

Purpose Statement

"COPWR exists to reduce wildfire risks on Central Oregon's public and private lands through broad based community participation and partnerships. The partnerships develops and facilitates strategies implementing ecologically sustainable, economically viable methods to remove hazardous fuels and forest products".

Goals

  • Restored forest and range ecosystems; enhanced resilience to natural disturbances
    (e.g. fire, insect, disease, etc.);
  • Diminished risk to human, animal and plant communities from uncharacteristically severe wildfire;
  • Enhanced value in small diameter material through the development of new or improved processing infrastructure;
  • Long-term community jobs and income from sustainably-managed forests and appropriately-scaled wood products and energy industries;
  • Enhanced community and stakeholder involvement in public land management.

Outcomes to Date

1. Development of strategies and tools to help agencies plan, fund, and implement on-the-ground projects.

  • Signing of a Declaration of Cooperation outlining partner contributions to developing CROP;
  • Development of the CROP supply database;
  • Development of a "levelization system" for the Warm Springs Forest Products Industries biomass power plant (soon to be under construction);
  • Promotion of additional levelization circles & stewardship contracting to improve supply stability;
  • Development of an ecosystem monitoring program to ensure sound ecological principles in planning and implementing restoration projects;
  • Facilitation of on-the-ground project collaborative's to help agencies plan work.

2. Business Investment / Increased Demand for Small Diameter Materials. Key benchmarks include:

  • Technical assistance provided to businesses including: supply analyses, identifying and securing financial incentive programs,connecting businesses with partners/resources/information;
  • New biomass-fired boiler for dry kiln operation in Prineville;
  • Construction about to begin on a 15-MW biomass power facility in Warm Springs;
  • New shavers and biomass-fired dryer for a large animal bedding firm in Redmond with biomass fired dryer on the way;;
  • New high-speed small diameter primary mill in Prineville;
  • Project planning for a 24-MW biomass power facility in La Pine;
  • Feasibility studies for biomass heat systems in Prineville, Bend, Redmond & Sisters; and
  • Developing densified wood fuel manufacturing facilities

3. Ecosystem Monitoring Program

  • Development of a field-based multi-party monitoring program to promote public confidence in small-diameter treatments, communications between stakeholders and land managers, and adaptive management;

  • 4. Committed Stakeholder Group

  • Working together to identify common ground and act on it;
  • Helping agencies improve practices through collaborative monitoring and feedback;
  • Developing mutual understanding among traditionally-opposed interests;
  • Providing a rich collaborative context to attract resources and opportunities to the region;
  • Creating the conditions for active restoration of forest and rangeland ecosystems.

    • Project Inception

    In 2001, COIC received a US Forest Service National Fire Plan grant to create a strategy to help develop markets for small diameter forest fuels in Central Oregon, and Central Oregon Partnerships for Wildfire Risk Reduction (COPWRR) was born.  The forecast was that more and more small diameter material would be made available from wildfire fuels reduction and forest restoration projects (mainly thinning small trees from below the overstory), and that the local wood products industry could be a partner in restoring the forest if they were able to process and market sustainable quantities of this previously "unmerchantable" material.  A local market would give this material at least some value, which would in turn allow public land managers to stretch limited budgets and get more restoration work done.  This would also benefit local communities by reducing the threat of uncharacteristically severe wildfire - large conflagrations which threaten property and human life

Project Funding

The COPWRR project is supported by:

  • USDA Forest Service Economic Action Program (National Fire Plan)
  • USDA FS Forest Products Lab (Woody Biomass Utilization Grants)
  • USDA FS State and Private Forestry Program
  • Crook, Deschutes and Jefferson Counties
  • Deschutes and Ochoco National Forests
  • Prineville BLM District
  • The National Forest Foundation
  • USDA Rural Development