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Appeal Tribune Wednesday, September 13, 2017 3B Oregon lawmakers to Congress: Treat wildfires like natural disasters CONNOR RADNOVICH STATESMAN JOURNAL As devastation from Oregon’s near- record fire season mounts, local and state lawmakers are renewing calls for a long-term solution to inadequate fund- ing that they say contributes to larger and more dangerous fires. Oregon’s two senators have led a bi- partisan push since 2013 to legislate an end to so-called “fire borrowing,” which is when the Forest Service diverts mon- ey away from restoration, conservation and maintenance to fight fires. This creates a cycle where firefight- ing takes up an increasingly bigger chunk of the Forest Service’s budget, limiting fire prevention that could keep large, costly fires smaller, proponents say. Federal agencies estimate the largest 1 percent of fires consume about 30 per- cent of firefighting budgets. Of the 76 large fires burning nationwide, 18 are in Oregon. “This year is virtually guaranteed to be the worst fire season in history in terms of the total area burned,” said Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore. The Forest Service estimated that by the end of the month, which corresponds with the end of this fiscal year, it would spend an estimated $300 million more than budgeted for wildfire suppression efforts. But Hurricane Harvey gave lawmak- ers an opportunity to address these costs. On Thursday, a disaster relief bill passed the Senate with an amendment that would back fill up to $300 million in TRISTAN FORTSCH, AP/KATU A wildfire, as seen from near Stevenson, Wash., across the Columbia River, burns in the Columbia River Gorge above Cascade Locks. wildfire fighting costs. Oregon’s senators considered this a victory in the short term, effectively al- lowing the Forest Service to avoid “fire borrowing” this year, but in a joint state- ment they called on Congress to devise a permanent solution. “Passing this wildfire funding is a huge step forward, but there’s more to do,” said Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore. “Congress needs to step up and treat these infernos like the natural disasters they are,” Wyden said. Their suggestion — the Wildfire Di- saster Funding Act — was first intro- duced in 2013 with more than a dozen co- sponsors from both sides of the aisle. The crux of the bill, which was supported by 261 organizations in 2015, is the cre- ation of a separate disaster fund that would kick in if fire suppression spend- ing exceeded 70 percent of 10-year aver- age cost. Wyden said this proposal falls in line with a national idea that disasters should be handled by all citizens. Currently, wildfires are not considered disasters in the same way as, for example, hurri- canes are. Even if the “fire borrowing” problem is addressed, climate change could con- tinue impacting the severity of Oregon’s fire seasons with hotter and drier sum- mers, particularly after wet winters. In a 2015 report, the Forest Service in- dicated that wildland fire management had grown as a percentage of their bud- get from 16 percent to 52 percent in the previous 20 years. “This is probably the most important time in recent history to fix our broken system,” Wyden said. Other state officials have requested federal help with Oregon’s historic fire season. Oregon’s congressional representa- tives sent a letter to House leadership on Tuesday describing the fires burning through the state. They asked for money for wildfire suppression to be included in the Hurricane Harvey legislation — the House should vote Friday on the bill that just passed the Senate. In Salem, Oregon Senate President Peter Courtney echoed those sentiments in a letter to Congress the same day. “My state is on fire. Washington, Ida- ho, California and Montana are on fire. Congress needs to act,” Courtney said. “Flooding has left thousands homeless in Texas and Louisiana. The West is burn- ing down. This is no time for politics. It’s time for action.” Contact the reporter at cradnovich @statesmanjournal.com or 503-399- 6864, or follow him on Twitter at @CDRadnovich. Fires bring hazardous air quality to Detroit ZACH URNESS STATESMAN JOURNAL Four wildfires blanketed Detroit Lake in hazardous smoke Sept. 3 and brought increased evacuation levels to the Breitenbush area. The four fires — Whitewater, Little Devil, Scorpion and Potato Hill — are currently burning around 22,000 acres to the north and east of Detroit. “The smoke was actually burning our eyes,” said Gary Terlecki, who owns a cabin in Detroit and brought his family for the weekend. “It was awful. We de- cided to leave early.” Meanwhile, Marion County issued a level 2 evacuation — meaning “get ready to go” — for the Breitenbush and High- way 46 area north of Detroit. Breitenbush Hot Springs is already closed and officials said they’d close Breitenbush, Humbug and Cleator Bend campgrounds for the season. The heightened evacuation comes as the Scorpion Fire and Little Devil Fire burn just two to three miles away from the Breitenbush area. “People are breathing a lot of smoke and have not been happy when they get here,” Detroit district ranger Grady McMahan said. “We decided to get through the Labor Day Weekend and then close the campgrounds.” Fire teams were able to get a line around the Potato Hill Fire, burning near U.S. Highway 20 near Santiam Pass. That allowed officials to reopen two lanes of traffic on the main thoroughfare between Salem and Bend. “In some ways the smoke does us a fa- vor,” said Arlene Perea, spokeswoman for fire teams working the Detroit area blazes. “It shades the fire from direct sunlight, so there’s not as much heat on the flames. And, it deprives the fire of oxygen. “That said, it’s pretty hard to look at the smoke as a benefit.” A burn ban remains in effect in Mar- ion County. The ban prohibits all fires, in- cluding recreational, backyard, and fire pits in parks and campsites. All fires are prohibited in Willamette National For- est, including campgrounds. Zach Urness has been an outdoors writer, photographer and videographer in Oregon for nine years. He is the author of the book “Hiking Southern Oregon” and can be reached at zurness@States- manJournal.com or (503) 399-6801. Find him on Twitter at @ZachsORoutdoors. GARY TERLECKI / SPECIAL TO THE STATESMAN JOURNAL Smoke blankets Detroit Lake on Sept. 3. 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