STATE/NORTHWEST
6A — THE OBSERVER
USDA, Interior Department gear
up for ‘dangerous’ wildfire year
Experts predict 2021 will be above-average year for wildfire potential in the West
By SIERRA DAWN McCLAIN
Capital Press
WASHINGTON —
USDA and the Depart-
ment of the Interior are
gearing up for what’s
expected to be one of the
most intense fire years in
recent history.
“May is wildfire
awareness month, but
these days, it seems as
if the fire season is the
entire year,” Deb Haa-
land, secretary of the
Interior, told reporters
in a press call Thursday,
May 13.
The National Inter-
agency Fire Center in
Boise, Idaho, predicts
2021 will be another
above-average year for
wildfire potential in the
West.
Agriculture Secre-
tary Tom Vilsack told
reporters he’s “troubled”
the signals suggest the
U.S. is “headed into yet
another very dangerous
fire year.”
Jeff Rupert, director
of the Interior’s Office
of Wildland Fire,
agreed 2021’s fire out-
look is bad. Nationwide,
550,000 acres are cur-
rently burning, and the
Southwest already has
five large, active fires in
mid-May.
More than 90% of
the West is experiencing
some level of drought,
according to agency data.
Rupert said he expects the
worst fires across Cali-
fornia, where drought is
acute, but he also antici-
pates wildfires will hit the
Pacific Northwest in June,
July and August.
“The drought now is
worse than this time last
year, and the fire poten-
tial across the West is
worse,” he said.
California department of Forestry and Fire Protection/Contributed Photo, File
The National Interagency Fire Center in Boise, Idaho, predicts 2021 will be another above-average year for
wildfire potential in the West.
In 2020, more than
10.3 million acres burned
across the U.S., a record
year and more than 50%
higher than the 10-year
average.
Haaland and Vilsack
told reporters what their
agencies are doing to gear
up for the season.
The Department of the
Interior’s land manage-
ment agencies and USDA
are combining resources
for a record-sized fire-
fighting team for this time
of year, including 15,000
firefighters, more than
500 helicopters, 91 sin-
gle-engine airtankers,
up to 34 airtankers, 360
pieces of heavy equip-
ment and more than 1,600
engines.
These resources will
supplement state and
local forces.
Vilsack said USDA and
the Interior Department
staff have been identi-
fying regions where they
think the highest fire risks
are and pre-positioning
people and supplies at
those locations.
2021 will probably
be better than 2020 in
at least one way, said
USDA staff. Firefighters
who wanted to get vac-
cinated were able to do
so this year, which could
relieve some pressure
surrounding COVID-19
protocols.
Firefighting last year
was a nightmare, agency
leaders said, because of
social distancing and
safety requirements
related to COVID-19.
“It was incredibly
stressful,” said Patty
Grantham, acting director
of fire and aviation man-
agement at USDA’s Forest
Service.
Haaland of the Inte-
rior Department said her
agency will seek to reduce
wildfire risk by con-
fronting climate change,
promoting strategic fuels
management, investing
in new science and tech-
nology, hiring personnel,
empowering communities
to help reduce fire risk and
building stronger partner-
ships with native Amer-
ican tribes.
Vilsack said he’s
hopeful President Biden’s
American Jobs Plan will
pass Congress. It would
invest billions of dol-
lars in forest restoration,
fuels management and
post-wildfire restoration.
But the Jobs Plan, also
known as Biden’s infra-
structure package, is con-
troversial and lacks bipar-
tisan support because it
would increase corporate
taxes.
Regardless of what
happens with the infra-
structure plan, Vilsack
said the Forest Ser-
vice will request more
money from Congress
to fight wildfires.
SaTuRday, May 15, 2021
Oregonians say U.S.
economy is stacked deck
By ZANE SPARLING
Pamplin Media Group
SALEM — Life is unfair
— especially when it
comes to money.
Only one in five Orego-
nians says the economic
system of the United States
is fair for all, according to
a new poll by the Oregon
Values and Beliefs Center.
The public opinion non-
profit’s recent survey also
found that nearly seven in
10 state residents rate Ore-
gon’s economy as mid-
dling-to-lousy, though the
other three see things as
good-to-great. That might
not seem like much to
crow about, but it’s actu-
ally a sign of a sunnier out-
look, compared to what
polling figures showed
when the end of the pan-
demic was nowhere in
sight.
“This is an improve-
ment from a September
2020 DHM Panel survey,
when only two in 10 rated
conditions as excellent,”
Oregon Values and Beliefs
said in a briefing.
Residents are somewhat
split on whether things are
getting better, worse, or
just plodding along, per the
polling.
Even when examining
conditions closer to home,
where survey respondents
are in general more likely
to find a silver lining, only
one-third gave a thumbs
up when asked about the
economy in their town.
“The cost to live in
Oregon has become out-
rageous,” said one survey
respondent, identifying
as a Republican woman
living in suburban Clack-
amas County. “I think
many have learned this
and are planning to move
out of the state or start an
emergency fund.”
OVBC conducted the
online survey of 600 Ore-
gonians, who were selected
to be statistically repre-
sentative of state demo-
graphics, in early April.
The margin of error is
2% to 4% depending on
the question. Here are the
takeaways:
• 72% say the Amer-
ican economic system
favors the rich and pow-
erful, compared with 19%
who believe it offers a fair
shake and 8% who are
unsure. Those earning
less than $50,000 annu-
ally (77%) were more
likely to see a rigged deck,
while a larger share of eco-
nomic conservatives (34%)
believe things are gener-
ally even.
• Almost one third
(30%) of Oregonians think
the state economy is doing
good or great, compared
to 68% who gave it a poor
grade and 2% who were
unsure. Democrats (39%)
are more likely to give the
economy high marks, as
are college grads (42%).
The middle-aged (72%)
and those with no educa-
tion beyond a high school
diploma (71%) were more
likely to pan the economy.
• Slightly less than a
quarter (22%) say Oregon’s
economy is improving,
while 39% said it was
trending toward equilib-
rium, 34% said it was get-
ting worse and 4% were
unsure. Rural residents
(47%) were more likely to
see the numbers turning
red, while urbanites (31%)
were in the black.
• About three in 10
(32%) say the economy is
favorable in their town, but
the majority (65%) said it’s
not, with the remaining
3% unsure. Those in the
rural-to-suburban exurbs
(57%) were more likely
to say their community
is successful than either
town or country dwellers.
In general, “exurbs” are
urban centers unattached
to a main metro area —
think McMinnville — as
opposed to a “suburb,”
such as Tigard.
How do we
rebuild a better
Oregon?
After a year of tremendous hardship, how do we rebuild a more
interconnected, equitable, resilient Oregon? How do we help each
other recover, rebuild, and restart our lives and businesses? How
do we start listening to and considering each others’ point-of-view?
How do we inject opportunity, across the state so everyone has
a chance to add to the greater good? The answer — Together.
Join us as we learn and share how to rebuild a better Oregon,
for all Oregonians.
L E A R N | CO N N EC T | D O N AT E
BRINGING OREGONIANS TOGETHER SINCE 1973
PORTLAND | BEND | SALEM | EUGENE | MEDFORD
O R E G O N C F. O R G