News release CCSO. With the recent fires in the region, much of the local firefighting resources have been sent to help with the fires which have devastated much of our neighboring Curry County and significant portions of Douglas County. Because of the limited resources to fight any local fires and with the severely dry weather conditions many of the privately owned lands and public lands which have traditionally been available to public recreational access have been closed. These conditions also necessitated a Level IV Fire Restriction. What this means: Many properties have closed public access to their properties. This includes those persons who have hunting/picking/firewood permits for the properties. Recent public closures include: – Coos County Forest properties; – All properties managed by Barnes and Associates to include; US Borax Properties (Curry County); US Trust Properties (Coos and Curry County); – Nickel Mountain Properties (Douglas County); – Lone Rock Timber Properties (All); – Moore Mill Properties (All); – Roseburg Lumber properties and those managed by Roseburg Forest Products (Properties are closed at Fire Level II and above); – Weyerhaeuser properties (All); – Coquille Tribal Lands (All); – Rayonier Timberlands and all lands managed by Rayonier Timberlands. Restricted use areas include: – Elliott State Forest: use in compliance with CFPA fire restrictions. For information about the current fire conditions, you can get the most recent information from the Coos Forest Protection Association at http://www.coosfpa.net/ For more information about public access please refer to the land owners once fire restrictions have been reduced. Those caught on closed lands or in violation of fire restrictions can be cited and possibly arrested for violations. The Coos County Sheriff’s Office has already responded to these violations and criminal citations (arrests) have been made as well as citations for Violation of Fire Restrictions. These measures are not permanent measures and are in place to protect the forests in and around Coos County. Please help safeguard our lands and prevent the devastation that has already been seen all around us. To report persons in violation of fire regulations you can call the Coos County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch Center’s non-emergency phone number at (541) 396-2106. To report any fires please call 911.
