12 hours Ago By Lucas Wright
In the wake of the Almeda Fire, which charred a part of Medford's landscape in 2020, the city is ramping up its defenses against future wildfires. The Parks, Recreation, and Facilities department, still carrying the burn scars of the disastrous blaze, has been on a mission to reduce the fire risks in the city's parks and open spaces.Sizable funding that flowed in after the Almeda Fire's embers cooled boosted these mitigation efforts, which began modestly in 2018.
Up to the minute, an expanse of about 200 acres has been treated to thin out potentially combustible vegetation. Oregon Stewardship, a nonprofit, aided by the city's workers and outside contractors, is handling the heavy lifting with an array of tools bereft of a spark risk.According to the City of Medford, the areas already pruned of their fiery potential include several creeks and the Bear Creek Greenway, all locales familiar to the creeping dread of wildfire.
The financial fuel for these fortifications ranges between $150,000 and $200,000 annually, the monetary pool fed from an eclectic mix of sources, grants garnered by the emergency manager, the General Fund, the Park Utility Fund, and shrewdly, accrued funds from marijuana tax revenue, a levy that's clearly not going up in smoke.The said parks and spaces have seen the clearing at least once, but the city acknowledges this is an ongoing battle. To keep these lands less worthy of a wildfire's appetite, the work is never done.
Medford is set on staying the course, with a pair of 2025 Town Hall meetings scheduled to loop in the public on the continuing emergency preparedness plans. The first is set to unfold at the Medford Police Headquarters on April 30, from 6:00-7:30 p.m.
, and another session on May 15 at the Smullin Health Education Center..
