Loading...
2022-251-Resolution No. 2022-048 Recorded 7/1/2022REVIEWED d �l LEGAL COUNSEL Recorded in Deschutes County Steve Dennison, County Clerk Commissioners' Journal 2022-251 CJ2022-251 07/01 /2022 3:45:45 PM BEFORE THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON A Resolution Declaring a State of Emergency and Imposing Public Use Restrictions on all * RESOLUTION NO. 2022-048 Unprotected Wildlands within unincorporated Deschutes County, and all Lands owned by Deschutes County WHEREAS, ORS 401.309 authorizes the county governing body to declare a state of emergency within the county; and WHEREAS, wildland fires endanger the health and safety of the county's population, jeopardize its economic vitality and imperil the quality of the environment; and WHEREAS, the Deschutes County Emergency Operations Plan (EOP) provides in part that a state of emergency exists whenever the unincorporated area of the county is in imminent danger of suffering an event that may cause injury or death to persons, or damage to or destruction of property to the extent that extraordinary measures must be taken to protect the public health, safety, and welfare; and WHEREAS, current weather patterns create conditions that greatly increase the threat and likelihood of high intensity wildland fires, including wildland-urban interface wildfires; and WHEREAS, the definition of wildland fire is an unplanned, unwanted wildland fire including unauthorized human -caused fires, escaped wildland fire use events, escaped prescribed fire projects, and all other wildland fires where the objective is to put the fire out: and WHEREAS, the Deschutes County Emergency Operations Plan and the Deschutes County Natural Hazards Mitigation Plan encourage mitigation and prevention measures, including ignition prevention; and WHEREAS, Deschutes County seeks to implement a course of action that will reduce the risk of wildland fires within the unincorporated area of the county, now therefore, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS OF DESCHUTES COUNTY, OREGON, as follows: Section 1. Pursuant to ORS 401.309 and the Deschutes County EOP, a State of Emergency is presently declared within the unincorporated areas of Deschutes County. PAGE I of 2 — RESOLUTION NO.2022-048 Section 2. Effective upon signing of this Resolution, a Public Use Restriction on all unprotected wildlands within unincorporated Deschutes County, and all lands owned by Deschutes County, is in effect through October 15, 2022 or unless otherwise rescinded. Section 3. The restrictions imposed by these Public Use Restrictions are listed on Exhibit 1, attached to this Resolution and incorporated herein. Section 4. Violations of these Public Use Restrictions imposed by this Resolution shall be prosecuted as civil matters, as permitted by law, and may subject violators to civil damages and/or injunctive process. Section 5. Any members of the public who are in violation of these Public Use Restrictions while present on county owned lands are deemed to be trespassing and are subject to criminal prosecution, as permitted by law. Dated this of _ _ , 20 ATTEST• Rec ing Secretary B D OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS PA TI ADA , C AIR a-21 ANTHONY DEBONE, VICE -CHAIR i*_y q:::� PHIL CHANG, COMMISSIONER PAGE 2 OF 2 — RESOLUTION NO.2022-048 EXHIBIT 1 DESCHUTES COUNTY Public Use Restrictions Enacting Authority: Deschutes County Resolution No. 2022-048 Applicability of Public Use Restrictions: All unprotected wildlands within unincorporated Deschutes County, and all lands owned by Deschutes County. Unprotected lands are defined as non-federal lands outside of Rural Fire Protection Districts, and outside of lands protected by the Oregon Department of Forestry. It is unlawful to be in violation of the following restrictions: • Smoking is prohibited while traveling, except in vehicles on improved roads. Note: ORS 476.715 prohibits throwing away any lighted tobacco, cigars, cigarettes, matches or other lighted material, on any forestland, private road, public highway or railroad right of way within this state. • Open fires are prohibited, including campfires, charcoal fires, cooking fires and warming fires, except in designated areas. Portable cooking stoves using liquefied or bottled fuels are allowed. • Chainsaw use is prohibited, between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. Chainsaw use is permitted at all other hours, if the following firefighting equipment is present with each operating saw: one axe, one shovel, and one 8 ounce or larger fire extinguisher. In addition, a fire watch is required at least one hour following the use of each saw. • Cutting, grinding and welding of metal is prohibited between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. At all other times the area is to be cleared of flammable vegetation and the following fire equipment is required: one axe, one shovel, and one 2'/2 pound or larger fire extinguisher in good working order. • Use of motor vehicles, including motorcycles and all -terrain vehicles, is prohibited, except on improved roads and except for vehicle use by a landowner and employees of the landowner upon their own land while conducting activities associated with their livelihood. • Possession of the following firefighting equipment is required while traveling in a motorized vehicle, except on federal and state highways, county roads and driveways: one shovel and one gallon of water or one 2'/2 pound or larger fire Exhibit 1 [Res. 2022-0481 Page 1 extinguisher, except all -terrain vehicles and motorcycles which must be equipped with an approved spark arrestor in good working condition. • Mowing of dried grass with power driven equipment is prohibited, between the hours of 1:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., except for the commercial culture and harvest of agricultural crops. • Use of fireworks is prohibited. • The release of sky lanterns is prohibited. • The discharging of exploding targets or tracer ammunition is prohibited. • Blasting is prohibited. • Any electric fence controller in use shall be: 1) Listed by a nationally recognized testing laboratory or be certified by the Department of Consumer and Business Services; and 2) Operated in compliance with manufacturer's instructions. The County Forester or an authorized representative may, in writing, approve a modification or waiver of these requirements. These restrictions shall remain in effect through October 15, 2021, unless earlier replaced, suspended, or terminated by an additional Resolution of the Deschutes County Board of County Commissioners. Man p r , + ( ) .,�. h `.�.�`I� r! a+ t�+ca (`�� inky ��recvter'ev llffiro 611 F(1 CE s o tthe subject area S ma be {fie VYed t oe es u ec For e e tears , S 27t" Street, Bend, Oregon 97702 or at https://maps deschutes.org/custom/basic/PublicUseRestrictions.htmI . Information and maps of regulated closures for the Oregon Department of Forestry can be found at the following website: http•//www.oregon.gov/ODF/Fire/Pages/Restrictions.aspx Information and maps of public use restrictions on Deschutes National Forest can be found at the following website: http://www.fs.usda.gov/centraloregon Definitions of words or phrases used in this Exhibit may be found in ORS 477.001, OAR 629-041-0005. Exhibit 1 [Res. 2022-0481 Page 2 .'O`'D OF MEETING DATE: June 29, 2022 SUBJECT: Resolution regarding public use fire restrictions on unprotected lands and County owned lands RECOMMENDED MOTION: Move approval of Resolution 2022-048. BACKGROUND AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS: Each year since 2014 Deschutes County has imposed public use restrictions to prevent wildfire starts in unprotected lands and lands owned by Deschutes County. Unprotected lands are defined as those lands outside structural fire protection districts and Oregon Department of Forestry fire protection. As we transition to warmer and drier summer weather staff presents these restrictions to the Board for their consideration. BUDGET IMPACTS: None. ATTENDANCE: Ed Keith