PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — As clean up and recovery of the Eagle Creek Fire continue, U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue got a first-hand look at the damage Tuesday night and met with state leaders.
He met with Gov. Kate Brown and Rep. Greg Walden to participate in the Fire Recovery Roundtable at the Eagle Creek Trailhead.
The U.S. Forest Service gave a presentation on the damage — putting into context how special the Gorge is.
The Eagle Creek Fire torched nearly 50,000 acres. It’s been a slow, steady and time-consuming job rehabbing the trails and clearing rocks and trees. Many trails along I-84 remain closed almost a year after the fire erupted.
“There’s nothing like being here and seeing it or seeing the aftermath there and what we’re doing to recover and restore,” Perdue said.
The fire began on Sept. 2, 2017 after a 15-year-old boy lit off fireworks. He has since pleaded guilty and has been ordered to pay $36 million in restitution.
During the roundtable, everyone agreed that the teamwork — at federal, state and local level — helped ease a difficult situation and that work must continue.
“I think we have to work better together, more efficiently, and frankly, more aggressively as we tackle our changing landscapes,” Brown said.
For Secretary Perdue, he said that while the scenic corridor is protected — the feds oversee 50 million acres of forest, and that some of that needs to be cleared out to get what he calls “working forests.”
“They’re good for recreation, they’re good for water quality, they’re good for wildlife, but especially good for the economy and jobs,” he said.
Walden, who was also in attendance, commended a new state law allowing agencies to respond quicker when a fire breaks out — rather than waiting on the necessary money needed to fight back.
Walden said, “So now they can use the funds we appropriate to go do the work on the ground to actually do the work on the ground when they can do it, so now we can fight fire with fire funds. It’ll make a big change.”
USFS said a lot of work still needs to be done. Out of the 140 trails damaged by the fire, they’ve only cleared about 60 miles or so. At least eight bridges will have to be replaced, but that number could go up.