Preparing for Wildfire in the South Willamette Valley

Tuesday, May 20th, 5.30 pm, at The Shedd

Devastating wildfires are occurring in unexpected places and with such ferocity that they take most people by surprise. The 2020 wildfires in western Oregon were such events, burning nearly 1,000,000 acres and over 6,000 structures. Read the writing on the wall. We should anticipate such events and prepare for them. How can we reduce the risk of rare yet potentially catastrophic wildfires while supporting other needs? What can we do immediately, and what might we do over the next 20 years to prepare for the next 50 years of climate change? In this talk, I explore how land use and stewardship changes over the last several hundred years set the scene for our current dilemma and the practical steps we can take around our homes, neighborhoods, and public spaces. This includes building trust and capacity among residents, NGOs, and public agencies to restore substantial areas of fire-adapted ecosystems on public and private land using prescribed fire.

About our presenter

Bart Johnson is Professor Emeritus of Landscape Architecture at the University of Oregon. His education in agronomy, landscape architecture, and ecology supports his lifelong passion for learning how to integrate people and their use of the land with native ecosystems and evolutionary processes. His research focuses on enhancing society’s capacity to adapt and innovate in the face of climate change, with a particular focus on wildfire, fire stewardship, and sustaining life’s diversity.