The Bulletin
A plan on how authorities in Bend should manage smoke from prescribed fires has been approved by state regulators.
The plan, created jointly by the city of Bend and Deschutes County, guides how and when officials will inform the public before prescribed burns occur.
The plan also exempts Bend from a state-enforced restriction on how much smoke from prescribed burns can infiltrate the city limits on an hourly basis, according to a Dec. 7 letter signed by Peter Daugherty, Oregon’s State Forester, and Richard Whitman, Oregon’s director of the Department of Environmental Quality.
“Your community response plan will most certainly serve as an example for other Smoke Sensitive Receptor Area communities in the state to develop their own plans. This is a great example of local leadership initiative and leadership,” according to the letter reviewed by The Bulletin.