On a cold Wednesday morning on Wild Iris Lane, a rural hilltop gravel drive off of Sunshine Road, east of Roseburg, a group of workers gathered with chainsaws, tree trimmers and hard hats.
The team is part of the Oregon Conservation Corps of Umpqua Valley, an organization founded earlier this year to reduce hazardous fuels on local properties, in an effort to combat wildfires in the area.
They spend the morning chopping off low hanging branches, cutting small trees, and cleaning the forest floor — parts of a forest that have a high potential to spread wildfires if one was to burn through the area. Their focus is on spacing out the dangerous fuels, making sure that a wildfire would have a difficult time spreading through the property. As they work, deer wander through the area. Brenner Williams, an assistant leader for the Conservation Corps, said they’re not too bothered by the work going on.