Recovery Update: Rowena Wildfires

Shane Wolfe
President
Village of Rowena, Inc.

Paraphrased from source author:

Village of Rowena, Inc. is a resident-led 501(c)3 formed after the June 2025 Rowena wildfire. What started as only a Facebook page became a weekly Tuesday meeting for residents to come together and share any updates with those who supported recovery. Village of Rowena must work parallel with LTRGs and other organizations in recovery, however, Village of Rowena is the “boots on the ground” and helps coordinate with residents and the community.

Many residents are in difficult living and financial positions post-disaster. However, the ash is almost cleaned up, and residents are finally able to drive by the land that once held their homes. There is a major need in the community to remove dead and burned trees, to perform hazard tree mitigation to prevent injury to residents. Rowena is an unincorporated area, it’s private with public use, residents are responsible for taking care of all clean up efforts.

Team Rubicon was contacted in spring 2026 and a date was set for early April for hazard mitigation. Team Rubicon sent 30-35 volunteers and worked with local orgs to get machinery to the site (chippers, restrooms, etc). There were some gaps in funding, but most was covered by generous donations. After the trees are cut and chipped, there will need to be debris removal to prevent beetle infestation.

This hazard tree mitigation project has created more acknowledgement through community, and has turned the community into a volunteer post in the Gorge for Team Rubicon.