White Buffaloes Look to Build on Last Season as Fall Camp Opens

The annual Airshow of the Cascades is just two weeks out, set for August 28 and 29 at the Madras Municipal Airport. The two-day event brings aerobatics, military aircraft, a car show, live music, and food vendors to Jefferson County — one of the region's biggest summer draws.

With Jefferson County under a state drought emergency declaration since April and irrigation allotments slashed, local ranchers and farmers are navigating the tightest water supplies in recent memory — with no relief expected before fall.

Three major wildfires burning in north-central and eastern Oregon are nearing full containment, but fire managers warn that hot, dry, and windy weather — plus forecasted dry thunderstorms — keeps the region in a critical fire weather pattern through the weekend.

With the Bench Fire now largely contained after burning more than 67,000 acres, the Confederated Tribes of Warm Springs are shifting from emergency response to the harder work of long-term recovery — a process tribal leaders say could take years.

Between a Governor-declared drought emergency, back-to-back wildfires, and scorching temperatures, Jefferson County's agricultural community is heading into harvest season under some of the toughest conditions in recent memory.