The Wallowa-Whitman National Forest issued the following press release Friday. Please stay safe, comply with all restrictions and take every precaution to keep our forests green.

BAKER CITY, Ore. (September 11, 2020) — Due to continued hot temperatures, lack of moisture and extreme fire danger, National Forest officials have announced that effective 12:01 a.m. on Saturday, September 12, 2020, the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest moved to Phase C of public use restrictions (PURs). With concern for public safety and the increased potential for human caused wildfires, officials remind forest visitors to use extreme caution when visiting the forest; under current conditions, even a spark can rapidly become a large wildfire.
Phase C PURs is the third level of restrictions and includes:

• Campfires are prohibited on the Forest. Use liquid and bottle (propane) gas stoves only.
• No internal combustion engine operation (including chainsaws), except for motorized vehicles.
• Electrical generators operated under the following conditions are allowed: o in the center of an area at least 10 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material, or;
  • when fully contained within a pickup truck bed that is empty of all flammable material, or;
  • when factory installed in a recreational vehicle and the generator exhaust discharge is located in the center of an area at least 10 feet in diameter that is barren or cleared of all flammable material.

• No off-road/off-trail vehicle travel or travel on roads not cleared of standing grass or other flammable material. Vehicle travel is never permitted on currently closed forest service roads where access has been impeded or blocked by earthen berms, logs, boulders, barriers, barricades or gates, or as otherwise identified in a closure order.

• Smoking is allowed only in enclosed vehicles and buildings, developed recreation sites, or in cleared areas.

Please remember that it is your responsibility to know what restrictions are in place when visiting public lands.
To report a wildfire call 911, or contact:

• Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch Center 541-963-7171
• John Day Interagency Dispatch Center 541-575-1321

Regulated closures are in effect on State and private lands protected by Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) in northeast and central Oregon. Please check with your local Oregon Department of Forestry office for public use restrictions on lands protected by ODF. For more complete information contact a local Oregon Department of Forestry office or visit one of the interagency dispatch center’s webpages:
Blue Mountain Interagency Dispatch webpage: www.bmidc.org
John Day Interagency Dispatch webpage: http://bicc-jdidc.org/index.shtml

Similar restrictions may be in effect on State and private lands protected by the Washington Department of Natural Resources (WA-DNR). More information can be found on the WA-DNR website at: http://www.dnr.wa.gov/.

For more information regarding Phase C Public Use Restrictions, please contact:
Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
Information Hotlines: Baker City (541) 523-6391; La Grande (541) 962-8679; Joseph (541) 426-5552
www.facebook.com/WallowaWhitmanNF     

Twitter: @WallowaWhitman

BAKER CITY, Ore. (July 30, 2020) – In response to rising fire danger levels, additional Public Use Restrictions, or Phase B PURs, will go into effect across the Wallowa-Whitman National Forest at 12:00 a.m. on July 31, 2020.

Phase B PURs prohibit campfires, wood stoves, and briquette fires.  Campfires are allowed in fire pits provided at developed recreation sites, where all flammable material should be cleared 10 feet from the edge of the pit, and the pit should be free of overhanging material. Anyone with a campfire must have a tool that can serve as a shovel and at least one gallon of water.  Campfires must be attended at all times and completely extinguished prior to leaving.  Remember: “If it is too hot to touch, it is too hot to leave.”

Campfires are also allowed in Designated Wilderness Areas – however, campfires are not allowed in the Lakes Basin of the Eagle Cap Wilderness, where campfires are prohibited year-around to reduce their impact on this popular destination and reduce the risk to public safety.

Chainsaw use is not allowed during Phase B PURs without a permit.  Firewood permit holders should follow the terms of their permits, which govern chainsaw use according to Industrial Fire Precaution Levels (IFPLs).  Generators are allowed only if fully contained in the bed of a pickup truck or in an area that has been cleared of all flammable material at least 10 feet away.  Other internal combustion engines are prohibited, except for motor vehicles.

Motor vehicle travel off developed forest roads and trails is not allowed due to the risk of a vehicle sparking a wildfire in the dry grass and encroaching vegetation.  Exception: Vehicles may be used to access campsites located within 300 feet of an open developed road.  All motorized travel on roads closed by gates, barricades, berms, rocks, or logs is prohibited.

With tinder-dry forest fuels and high daytime temperatures, conditions are prime for human-caused forest fires. We ask that you be extremely careful when out in the forest.  To learn more, contact your local Forest Service office or visit our websites (http://bmidc.org/restrictions.shtml, www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman, http://bluemountainfireinfo.blogspot.com).

Please call 911 to report a forest fire.

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Wallowa-Whitman National Forest
1550 Dewey Ave., Suite A
Baker City, OR 97814
https://www.fs.usda.gov/wallowa-whitman
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/WallowaWhitmanNF
Twitter: @WallowaWhitman

Contact: Peter Fargo, 541-523-1231