2018 Wildfire Season Especially Hard On Oregon Ranchers

The 2018 wildfire season was an active one across the entire Northwest, burning thousands of acres of timber, grassland and more.  One of the industries that felt the impact of the fires the hardest, Oregon ranchers.  Jerome Rosa, Executive Director of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association says year after year, the western states are dealing with more fire, and more intense fires.  And he added broken policy is hurting the Ag industry and the environment.

“As more and more of our ranchers are losing their allotments and getting pulled off these public lands there are more and more wildfires going on, lightning strikes, and there’s a lot of fine fuel to ignite these fires.”

Rosa notes that there are many stands of dead or dying trees that need to be thinned or removed, but are not.  He adds this broken policy contaminates the air, hurting not only the overall economy, but human health as well.

If you have a story idea for the Washington Ag Network, call (509) 547-1618, or e-mail gvaagen@cherrycreekradio.com