PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — Private landowners impacted by the wildfires that ripped through Oregon’s forests in September can now apply for federal aid to help address the damage left behind through the end of the year.
The federal grants are available for non-industrial private forest landowners in 13 counties: Clackamas, Marion, Linn, Lane, Lincoln, Tillamook, Washington, Lake, Klamath, Jackson, Josephine, Douglas and Wasco.
According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency (FSA), applications can be submitted to the Emergency Forest Restoration Program. Sign up started on Nov. 3 and ends on Dec. 31.
Landowners are encouraged to apply fast because funding will be distributed on a number of factors, including the number of applications received along with on-site inspections.
“I encourage eligible landowners who haven’t participated in FSA programs to contact the County FSA office as soon as possible because FSA records will have to be created for these individuals,” Josh Hanning, acting executive director at FSA, said in a statement.
The funds can be applied to a range of forest restoration practices, in cluding debris removal to provide a new stand or natural regeneration; site preperation, planting materials and labor costs to replant the forest.
Click here for more details about the grant and application.
More than 1 million acres burned in the historic wildfires across Oregon in September, which were fueled in part by a historic windstorm on Labor Day. Nine people were killed in the infernos and one person remains missing, according to the Oregon Office of Emergency Management.