The Mt. Hood National Forest is one of 16 forests selected to receive funding for a Joint Chiefs’ Landscape Restoration project.  The U.S. Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources Conservation Service awarded the forest over $560,000 for work in 2020 on public and private lands in Wasco County near Rock Creek Reservoir west of Highway 197.  The completed work on nearly will improve forest resiliency to insects and disease, restore pine and oak habitat and riparian areas, improve conditions for wildlife, and reduce the risk of fires spreading from public lands to neighboring non-federal lands.  The local project was developed by the All-Lands Committee of the Wasco County Forest Collaborative.  It is a partnership between the forest, the collaborative, Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, and Wasco County Soil and Water District.  It will encompass over 27,000 acres of Forest Service-managed land, the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s White River Wildlife Area, and over 12,000 acres of private land.