The usual lush green of the Bear Creek Greenway bike and pedestrian path was blackened by the Almeda Drive fire in September 2020. Not only was the Greenway itself scorched, but the vegetation acted as a conduit for the wind-driven fire to spread from Ashland to Medford.
Since the fire, crews have cut down damaged trees before they could fall on people, and planted grass to prevent erosion. But those were stopgap measures while a more complete restoration plan could be developed.
We explore the shaping of those plans with Steve Lambert, Jackson County Parks Program Manager. He is joined by Greg Stabach, Natural Resources Program Manager at the Rogue Valley Council of Governments (RVCOG), and John Speece, Project Manager at the Rogue River Watershed Council.