Welcome to Summer in Oregon

Chuck Sheketoff

It is field burning season again!

The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) operates a Smoke Management Program and oversees the burning of about 65,000 acres of annual and perennial grass seed crop fields and cereal grain fields within the Willamette Valley each summer.

The Oregon Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) tells people to call ODA's complaint lines if they are bothered by the smoke. The ODA Smoke Management Program has two complaint lines available to the public, which are open during the field burning season (June 15th to September 30th). Complaints are tabulated and reported to the Governor's office each week during the season. The Salem number is for callers "in the north portion of the Willamette Valley;" the Eugene number for callers "in the south portion of the Valley." They don't tell you the dividing line.

Salem Complaint Line: (503) 986-4709
Eugene Complaint Line: (541) 686-7600

You may also email [email protected] or contact the Department of Environmental Quality, Air Quality Division, 811 SW Sixth Avenue, Portland, OR 97204, (503) 229-5359 or toll-free in Oregon, 1-800-452-4011, if you don't like the smoke.

As Jack Bogdanski once wrote, "pee-you".

By Chuck Sheketoff Aug. 17, 2005