Director’s Message On March 7, 2017, APRC and Lomakatsi Restoration Project signed a new Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board (OWEB) grant-work contract. The $6 million, six-year OWEB grant was awarded to the City of Ashland in partnership with Lomakatsi and The Nature Conservancy to restore open forest habitat and reduce the risk of severe wildfires on public and private land in and around Ashland. Our newly acquired property, Acid Castle Rocks, is the first property under this new program. This open space, adjacent to the popular Hitt Road Trail overlooking Ashland, is 45.79 acres of oak savanna. Restoration and wildfire safety work began on March 9 and will continue over the next few months. This valuable work will also include the bordering Lawrence Property. Thinned brush will be burned under safe conditions with a permit from Ashland Fire & Rescue. The total treated acreage for thinning-fuels reduction on the two parcels is 82 acres, with an additional 20 acres of noxious weed removal being treated within the two parcels. We will keep the Hitt Road Trail open during the project with only minor interruptions to trail traffic. Oak woodlands, such as Acid Castle Rocks, are typically found at lower elevations. In recent years with the encroachment of developing communities, many of these oak savannas are slowing disappearing. Preserving this property is a vital piece of the forest restoration work planned for the next several years. The OWEB grant will also fund a 12.7-acre prescribed burn treatment in lower Siskiyou Mountain Park. The controlled burn will be combined with five acres of the adjoining private property. I am pleased with our staff for coordinating this grant and for their collaboration with Lomakatsi, The Nature Conservancy, Ashland Fire & Rescue, the Ashland Forest Resiliency Stewardship Project (AFR) and private citizens. We hope you have the opportunity this summer to hike or bike the trails in and around Ashland! Sincerely, Michael A. Black Ashland Parks & Recreation Commission Director Forest restoration & Fuels reduction STREAM LIVE AT THEVALLEY.FM 105.5 ASHLAND * 106.3 MEDFORD * 105.9 GRANTS PASS T R U E T O T H E M U S I C Photo courtesy Jeffrey McFarland, Interim Parks Superintendent commis s i o n E s t 1 9 0 8