Fuels Reduction a Proactive Approach to Reduce Wildfire Risk

• May 13, 2025 | Category: Water Resources, Your Water

Reducing fuels in our forests is essential to protecting the clean, reliable drinking water provided by our primary water source, Big Butte Springs (BBS). Severe wildfires pose a serious threat to both water quality and quantity, as well as to infrastructure in the watershed.

Medford Water is proactively addressing this risk through ecological forest management that reduces ground, surface, ladder, and canopy fuels while maintaining a healthy and diverse forest to support wildfire suppression efforts.

Over the past seven years, we have treated more than 2,000 acres of our forestlands through selective timber harvests and non-commercial thinning. These treatments remove 30–50% of merchantable trees to generate revenue, which helps fund work targeting ladder fuels in the understory. Slash is piled and burned to prevent surface fuel buildup.

As a result, our forest stands are now more fire-resistant and better prepared to safely receive prescribed fire. In the coming years, we plan to implement prescribed fire and periodic timber harvests to sustain forest health.

Because Medford Water owns only a small portion of the BBS watershed, we also support work beyond our lands to increase the pace and scale of forest restoration. We collaborate closely with the U.S. Forest Service on adjacent federal lands and have partnered with the Oregon Department of Forestry to secure funding for non-commercial thinning on both our property and nearby private lands.

These collective efforts enhance forest resilience, reduce wildfire risk, and protect this critical drinking water source. For more information on water resources, click here.