On Monday, July 14th, the West Oregon District of the Department of Forestry will place further restrictions on forest users for the fire season. The Regulated Use Closure is specifically geared at reducing the chance of wildfires starting from public activities in forested areas. The restrictions ban smoking in the forest except in closed vehicles, ban campfires outside of designated campgrounds, ban the use of motorized vehicles except on improved roads, ban the use of non-industrial chainsaw use, and ban the use of any fireworks in the forest. Fire season was declared on the West Oregon District on June 30th. This declaration primarily affected forest operations, such as logging sites, by requiring fire fighting equipment on site and precautions against fire. The Regulated Use Closure extends restrictions and preventative measures to the public on all private and Bureau of Land Management forest lands in Benton, Lincoln, and Polk counties. As the summer has progressed, conditions in the forest have gotten warmer and dryer pushing the fire danger up. The intent of the Regulated Use closure is to limit some of the potential ignition sources of forest fires. Human caused fires continue to be the top cause of forest fires. For further information on the public use restrictions, contact the Oregon Department of Forestry offices in Philomath, Dallas, or Toledo.