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 On cloudy winter days, Sisters can get murky with smoke. When an inversion layer presses down, smoke from woodstoves crawls out of chimneys and spills down the sides of houses, hugging the ground like a blanket.

It can get hard to breathe.

Sisters Camp Sherman Rural Fire Protection District Chief Don Mouser thinks it's only a matter of time before smoky conditions in Sisters get the attention of the state Department of Environmental Quality and the federal Environmental Protection Agency.

"One of these days, they're going to start looking very seriously at Sisters," Mouser said.

To prepare for that day, Mouser is urging the Sisters community to set up a voluntary air-quality advisory system. Under Mouser's proposal, Sisters area residents could call the firehall to find out what kind of air quality day to expect. They could use the information to determine what kind of burning activity is appropriate.

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On a "green" day, woodstove burning with clean, dry wood would be okay, and open burning of yard debris would be fine as long as the resident has a permit.

A "yellow" day would mean burning in a stove only if it's DEQ or EPA approved for low emission. Open burning would be advised only if it must be done to remove wildfire danger.

On a "red" day no burning should occur, unless wood is the only source of heat for a residence; no open burning would be allowed.

Mouser acknowledged that his department has no authority over people's wood stoves, and the restrictions would be advisory in any case.

Local government and homeowner's associations could empower the department to inform people when their burning is inappropriate.

"I don't think we're going to be citing anyone," Mouser said. "It's more of an informational thing."

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The whole point, according to Mouser, is to seek voluntary compliance with restrictions, so that Sisters area residents are used to accommodating conditions before state and federal agencies mandate that they do so.

Mouser said he wants input from homeowner's associations and the city council and other interested parties to help come up with a comprehensive burning management program.

One key, he emphasized, is to find a way of removing pine needles and a place to dispose of them, other than burning. Piles of pine needles are a serious wildfire hazard, but burning them off in open burning season creates a lot of smoke.