Explore Oregon Podcast: Oregon wildfires update and the future of Opal Creek

In this episode of the Explore Oregon Podcast, host Zach Urness gives an update on the fast-developing wildfire season in Oregon and then dives into how beloved places such as the Opal Creek area reopen post-wildfire.

First, Urness breaks down some of the fires burning across the state after a major lightning storm ignited a number of new blazes near Oakridge, Diamond Lake, the McKenzie Corridor and all other corners of the state.

Then, Urness plays an interview that he did with Portland City Cast on how the Opal Creek area is doing now, four years after the 2020 Labor Day wildfires. He details what the area looks like now and plans for how it will eventually reopen . He also talks about the 2017 Eagle Creek Fire and its lasting impact, and the legacy of the 2003 B&B Complex and what it tells us about how forests recover after a particularly hot fire.

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Zach Urness has been an outdoors reporter in Oregon for 16 years and is host of the Explore Oregon Podcast . Urness is the author of “ Best Hikes with Kids: Oregon ” and “ Hiking Southern Oregon .” He can be reached at zurness@StatesmanJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on X at @ZachsORoutdoors.

This article originally appeared on Salem Statesman Journal: Explore Oregon Podcast: Oregon wildfires update and the future of Opal Creek