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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