Happy New Year, Harney County! 

Federal workers at the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) tallied numerous accomplishments for your public lands in 2023. 

We watched some employees retire or move on to other opportunities and welcomed several others to our community. We participated in outdoor days local students and joined partners in supporting the annual Harney County Migratory Bird Festival and Skull Gravel Grinder. Here are some other highlights, by the numbers:

• Responded to 22 wildfires within the Burns Interagency Zone – seven lightning-caused and 15 human-caused for a total of 2,089 acres. 

• The Burns Airtanker Base loaded Single Engine Air Tankers 151 times and delivered 105,784 gallons of mixed retardant. 

• Burns Interagency Communication Center became the sole host center for all contracted emergency medical responders and ambulances in the entire Pacific Northwest – over 500 new resources to dispatch and coordinate their logistics.  

• Went to eight different states and Canada on wildfire and prescribed fire/fuels assignments. 

• Participated in eight recruiting and hiring events throughout Oregon.

• Shared wildland fire prevention and preparedness education at 10 community events, parades, carnivals and school activities. 

• Supported 24 ‘rookies’ for wildland fire Guard School.

• Administered 174 grazing permits and monitored 49 allotments covering 791,466 acres for rangeland health. 

• Completed over 30 National Environmental Policy Act documents for public land projects. 

• Between the BIFZ and BLM Burns District, hosted or participated in over 30 cooperative sessions with Harney County Wildfire Collaborative, Harney Basin Wetlands Initiative, Southeast Oregon Resource Advisory Council, Steens Mountain Advisory Council, Harney County Grazing Advisory Board, Steens Mountain Advisory Council, Harney County Court, Burns Paiute Tribe, Grant-Harney Fire Prevention Co-Op, Harney County Fire Defense Board, County Community Wildfire Protection Plan Working Group, and Harney County Natural Resource Advisory Council. 

• At Oregon’s Off-Range Wild Horse Holding Facility in Hines, received 255 horses gathered from public lands, and placed nearly 500 wild horses and burros into private care or long-term holding through adoption, sale, or transport. 

• Collected $78,355 in overnight camping fees across the district and welcomed 6,810 registered guests at area campgrounds. 

• Issued 22 Special Recreation Permits and nine new Right-of-Ways.

• Disposed of 120 yards of garbage from the Alvord Desert. 

• Pumped 30 vault restrooms for over 30,000 gallons of waste!

• Maintained five miles of recreation trails and 340 lane miles of public roads.

• Printed 52 articles in the Burns Times Herald. What would you like to hear from us in 2024?

• Welcomed five appointees to the Steens Mountain Advisory Council: Cliff Volpe, Kali Wilson, Lee Foster, Eric Hawley and Jake Jakubik. 

• Hired 24 new employees and promoted 16 others.

• Sold 500 maps and eight rock and mineral collection permits. 

• Hosted two National Public Lands Day events, supported eight volunteer hosts at Riddle Brothers Ranch and Page Springs Campground for nine months and over 2,480 hours of service, and appreciated 2,200 of contributed work in the Archaeology program.  

• For noxious weeds, aerial-treated 74,548 acres and ground-treated over 1,000 acres.

• Completed over 15,000 acres of fuels treatments (under burning, broadcast burning, pile burning, cutting and piling, seeding).

This list just barely scratches the surface of all we were able to tackle in 2023. Thank you for a great year, Harney County. We appreciate your continued support of public lands!