We want smokejumpers returned to southern Oregon. In Cave Junction, we boast one of the original four smokejumper bases in the United States. It was opened in 1943 and closed in 1981 reportedly to save money. Prior to the opening of the smokejumpers base, the average acres burned per year in the Siskiyou National Forest hovered around 23,500 acres. During the tenure of the smokejumpers, an average of less than 1,000 acres burned. Since then, the numbers have skyrocketed. The attached image shows the acres burned before, during and after the smokejumpers' tenure. 

We are not proposing that we discontinue sensible forest management. We recognize fire is part of the ecosystem and we need to manage the fuel load by controlled burns, but right now, this feels wildly out of control. We lost half of Talent just last year, not to mention the widespread health implications. Daily smoke for months damages lungs and eyes, shuts down tourism and causes us to worry for our friends, family, livestock and ourselves. We need you to act.

Please reopen a smokejumper base in southern Oregon. We want this in the infrastructure bill. Please give us all of the tools available to control wildfires and improve our safety.