U.S. Forest Service staff told Harney County Court on March 5 that emergency work after last summer’s Falls Fire is focused on public safety, landscape stabilization and long-term replanting.

Forest Service official Ann Neeson said crews obtained emergency authority to gather wild horses in the fire area and "we were successful in gathering 410 horses," adding that many were in poor condition and are now in corrals and receiving veterinary care.

County and Forest Service staff said they completed a post-fire census that found roughly 650 horses in the area affected by the fire; the Forest Service is preparing a herd management plan that would leave an estimated 100 to 140 horses on the landscape once adoption and management work conclude.

Neeson and Immigrant Creek Ranger Josh Giles described a stepped restoration program. Giles said crews will begin "bare work" — immediate stabilization and hazard mitigation — then move to seeding and multi-year planting. "We're going to plant this summer about 3,000 acres of ponderosa pine around the Yellow Jack area and another 100 acres of aspen," Giles said, and added that seeding will be both manual and aerial and focus on native species.

Officials described infrastructure repairs they plan to prioritize: rebuilding about 350 miles of burned fence along Forest Service boundaries and allotments, replacing roughly 14 water troughs, repairing cattle guards and restoring Yellowjacket Campground (toilets and other facilities were damaged). Hazard-tree mitigation contracts are under way for priority road corridors; staff said about 850 miles of road were inside the Falls Fire perimeter, with roughly 200 miles affected by moderate-to-high severity fire.

Giles said closures on main two‑digit and some four‑digit forest roads will remain in place while crews do the safety work, and he asked contractors to include time-based stipulations in contracts. "The closure will be in place until we're done with the main roads... I'd like to open it up no later than one year from now," Giles said, while adding the timetable depends on weather and contractor availability.

Officials said salvage material that is usable will be offered in contracts; smaller-diameter material may be piled and burned if it cannot be moved. They also said some facilities used by wildlife — "guzzlers" — were damaged in the fire and that the Forest Service coordinates replacement or repair with Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife when practical.

The Forest Service reported coordination with local partners on noxious-weed control and seeding, including Cooperative Weed Management and Soil and Water Conservation District partners, and said they are pursuing a multi-year effort to reseed and replant areas of high-severity burn.

County officials asked about volunteer and youth labor; Giles said some hazard areas are unsuitable for youths but that the Forest Service has agreements with youth conservation groups and the training and employment consortium for work in safer, completed work sites.

Officials asked county leaders to continue coordination; both sides said they expect an ongoing, multi-year effort. The Forest Service said some actions are funded with disaster relief money and that many projects are already contracted or in procurement.