CORVALLIS, Ore. — Flames moved through dry grass and low vegetation beneath spreading Oregon white oaks north of Corvallis on Oct. 3 as the Mid-Willamette Prescribed Burn Association completed its first prescribed burn on private land in Benton County.
The 4.3-acre burn marked a milestone for the association, which formed in early 2025 to help landowners, fire professionals, conservation organizations and community members learn how to safely and effectively use prescribed fire in Benton, Linn, Polk and Marion counties.
“This is about more than the acres we’re treating. It’s about building the local knowledge, experience, and community needed to make prescribed fire a more achievable part of caring for these landscapes.”
The Oregon State University Extension Service Fire Program co-founded the association. Kayla Bordelon, an OSU Extension regional fire specialist for the Willamette Valley and north Cascades, and Carrie Berger, OSU Extension fire program manager, serve on its steering committee.
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A state-certified burn manager led the operation, with trained personnel and firefighting resources on site.
“This is about more than the acres we’re treating,” Bordelon said. “It’s about building the local knowledge, experience, and community needed to make prescribed fire a more achievable part of caring for these landscapes.”
The association spent more than a year building skills, sharing knowledge and developing relationships before conducting its first burn. The property owners had been preparing the site for even longer.
“This is an exciting milestone for our group,” said Paul Catino, a steering committee member, lead organizer for the burn and master’s student in the OSU College of Forestry. “The landowners have been preparing this land for many years. We were ready to take that next step and put good fire on the ground.”
Restoring fire to oak habitat
During the burn, low flames crept through grasses, fallen leaves and other vegetation beneath the oaks. Smoke drifted through the canopy as crews in fire gear worked across the site and monitored the flames.
Prescribed fire can help maintain the open conditions characteristic of oak woodlands by reducing accumulated vegetation and woody encroachment. It also can recycle nutrients and create conditions that support native plants, wildlife and other fire-adapted species.
Fire has long shaped the prairies and oak woodlands of the Willamette Valley. Before colonization, Indigenous peoples regularly used fire to steward these landscapes and support plants, animals and other resources important to their communities. In many prairie and oak ecosystems, fire historically returned about every two to seven years.
The disruption of Indigenous burning practices, fire exclusion and changes in land use altered many of those landscapes. Prescribed fire has become one tool used to restore ecological processes in fire-adapted ecosystems.
Ideal conditions led to successful outcomes
Scheduling a prescribed burn can be challenging when multiple fire engines and more than 20 staff members must be available while weather and fuel conditions are suitable.
Forecasts can change, and crews and partners sometimes come together only to cancel because conditions aren't right for burning. On Oct. 3, however, the weather provided ideal conditions for the project.
“The objectives of the burn were to consume more than 80% of the surface fuels, such as grasses and leaf litter, and at least 60% of the shrubs and small woody debris on the ground. We didn't want to see hardly any mortality of live trees,” Catino said. “Initial estimates of the fire's effects, made two days after the burn, show that surface fuel consumption was high, as hoped. The undesirable shrubs were set back, small woody debris was consumed, and tree mortality was almost entirely prevented.
“We're excited to see this stand of oak in the spring, when vegetation has been refreshed with nutrients released by the fire,” he said.
Building local capacity
Prescribed burning required weather, fuel conditions and smoke dispersion to align with available resources. In the Mid-Willamette Valley, that window can be relatively short, often occurring in the fall.
Participants gathered beneath the trees before moving into the burn area, where experienced fire practitioners worked alongside others gaining hands-on experience. The burn served not only as an ecological treatment but also as a training opportunity for people building prescribed-fire skills.
The association's goal has been to build local capacity so more landowners and community members can learn about prescribed fire, participate in burns and gain experience applying it safely and effectively.
The Mid-Willamette Prescribed Burn Association is led by a steering committee that includes representatives from the OSU Extension Fire Program, Greenbelt Land Trust, Institute for Applied Ecology, Polk Soil and Water Conservation District, Woodburn Fire, Sequoia Fire Consulting and Cascade Firescape.
Additional support for the Oct. 3 burn came from the Oregon Military Department, Miller Timber Services and Finster Forestry, which provided fire engines and personnel. The landowners and more than 15 volunteers also helped make the burn possible.
