Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 10, 2021)
THE BULLETIN • SUNDAY, JANUARY 10, 2021 A5 OREGON | WILDFIRE PREPAREDNESS Lawmakers reluctantly make $17M down payment BY TED SICKINGER The Oregonian If anything illustrated the need for Oregon to invest more in wildfire preparedness, it was last year’s cluster of Labor Day infernos that chewed through a million acres of forestland, destroyed thousands of homes and structures and killed nine people. Despite scores of recom- mendations that the governor’s Council on Wildfire Response said were urgent back in 2019, the Oregon Legislature made no headway on the issue last year after two Republican walkouts over climate change legislation. Gov. Kate Brown’s hope of addressing some of those proposals in one of the Legislature’s special sessions didn’t happen either, taking a backseat to more pressing pan- demic-related funding and po- licing reforms. But the Legislature’s Emer- gency Board reluctantly made a tiny down payment on Fri- day, appropriating $17 mil- lion for the Office of State Fire Marshal and the Oregon De- partment of Forestry to invest in wildfire prevention and pre- paredness programs. The spending was approved despite concerns from legisla- tive analysts and lawmakers, who doubt the two agencies can even spend the money in the six months remaining in the current two-year bud- get cycle. They questioned whether the Emergency Board has the authority to create new positions and programs that are typically debated by the Full Ways and Means Com- mittee, and will then have to be made permanent for the next biennium in the upcoming leg- islative session, at substantial cost. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen the word ‘problematic’ used so often in a (Legislative Fiscal Office) brief,” said Sen. Eliza- beth Steiner Hayward, D-Port- land, who ultimately voted to approve the spending. “This feels like really major policy. I have substantive concerns about the way this is structured and the way we’re accomplish- ing it through the Emergency Board. As co-chair of Ways and Means, my stomach is a bit bound up right now.” Spending breakdown The spending includes $4 million for the Office of the State Fire Marshal. In part, that would cover 25 new positions, which legislative analysts noted will increase the size of the of- fice by nearly one third. The jobs will support moderniza- tion of the state’s mutual aid system for emergency response and implement some of the wildfire council’s recommen- dations to help communities better adapt and respond. The appropriation will also provide $2.3 million to support grants to local fire districts for equipment, prevention pro- grams and training. Lawmakers questioned Mount Hood National Forest via The Oregonian The Riverside Fire burns in the Mount Hood National Forest, seen from La Dee Flats near the Clackamas River, in the fall. whether the agency could even make all those new hires, some of which are high level, by the June 30th end of the biennium. And legislative analysts noted that costs for the positions in the next biennium would total nearly $6 million, and would compete with other priorities in the 2021-23 budget process. The Department of Forestry, meanwhile, will get $13 mil- lion. Of that, $5 million would go for aviation contracts, in- cluding a “next generation” air tanker, two single-engine air- craft and a heavy-duty helicop- ter — assets that department officials say will substantially increase its capacity for early attacks on new fires to keep them small. A fiscal analyst noted in his brief that the aviation ap- propriation is “problematic” because it will expire on June 30, just as the fire season is beginning. There is no assur- ance, if it expires before it is spent, he said, that lawmakers will make the funds available again. The sharp increase in gen- eral fund money, he also said, “communicates a significant policy change that is usually contemplated during a legisla- tive session.” Sen. Betsy Johnson, D-Scap- poose, said she is a big believer in expanding the agency’s avi- ation capacity, but that she was voting no because of all the other “ups and extras in this bill.” That includes $2.6 million for the forestry department to hire 29 new employees in its fire protection program, including a new deputy divi- sion chief, and add between two weeks to one month to 147 seasonal positions. It will also provide nearly $400,000 to fire protection associa- tions, which are independent groups of landowners that provide their own wildfire protection. The estimated costs of continuing those new positions and programs would be $10 million in the next budget cycle, a 9% in- crease from the current fire protection budget, the legisla- tive fiscal office reported. Sen. Fred Girod, R-Stayton, wanted to know if any money was being allocated to update local alert systems or for local water trucks, both of which were major problems in the Labor Day fires. Girod, whose home was de- stroyed in the Beachie Creek fire, added: “I want to make sure people don’t sleep through a fire and get killed… It’s ex- tremely frustrating not to have water to put on a fire.” The answer to both ques- tions, from both agencies, was “no.” Not specifically. The Department of Forestry would get another $5 million for its “partnership and plan- ning” program, including eight new positions. The bulk — $4 million — would go to support forest restoration projects, in- cluding thinning and the re- moval of downed limbs and debris from forest floors that contribute to fire growth and risks. Specifically, the depart- ment wants to spend $2 mil- lion on 13 projects on non-in- dustrial private property, and another $2 million on planning for forest restoration on federal lands. This is a tiny start on a mas- sive problem, but it’s contro- versial, too. Some lawmakers wonder why Oregon is spend- ing its money to clean up fed- eral forests. Once again, the meeting materials noted that fiscal analysts are “skeptical of the ability of the agency to complete, or even to substan- tively begin to implement the projects that are outlined in this request before the end of the current biennium and is concerned that funding this request presupposes a contin- uation of additional ongoing funding into the 2021-23 bien- nium.” Focus on prevention Meanwhile, environmental and firefighter groups main- tain that thinning projects have little impact on fire se- verity and are really an excuse to harvest more trees. They believe communities need to be better prepared to deal with fire in an era of climate change, and the money would be better spent on ways to pre- vent structures from igniting in the first place. Tim Ingalsbee, executive di- rector of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology, Meet Dr. Covalt said the Emergency Board’s ap- proval of more aircraft, boots on the ground and thinning projects are a conventional re- sponse that is out of step with the new realities of climate change. “Again and again, this big iron is parked on the tarmac during the periods when peo- ple are in crisis,” he said. “You take trees out of the forest and put more young firefighters on the front line. “Climate change is creating more red flag conditions where it’s not possible to suppress fires. We have people living di- rectly in harm’s way and felling the forest around them is not going to protect them.” Matt Donegan, a forestry executive who chaired the gov- ernor’s wildfire council, dis- agrees. He says the need for more forest restoration work is real, and the Biden Admin- istration’s climate policy may include some major new fed- eral investments in thinning and hazardous fuels reduction projects — money the state can access if it builds the pipeline and capacity to accomplish the work. He agrees that fire is a natu- ral and healthy phenomenon and that we need more of it to restore forest health. The problem, he says, is that for- ests are so overstocked with dead, dry debris after a cen- tury of fire suppression that managing prescribed burns or natural fires to restore healthy ecosystems is nearly impossi- ble. Meanwhile, he said, there’s never enough money to move forward with the projects at the scale needed. “Climate change is creating more red flag conditions where it’s not possible to suppress fires. We have people living directly in harm’s way and felling the forest around them is not going to protect them.” — Tim Ingalsbee, executive director of Firefighters United for Safety, Ethics, and Ecology The wildfire council’s rec- ommendations included spending $4 billion to treat 5.6 million acres of Oregon forests over two decades — far be- yond the state’s current means. But Donegan said potential legislative concepts for the next legislative session could provide dedicated sources of funding for the projects, which could then leverage federal money. He called the Emer- gency Board’s appropriation a stopgap measure, and said the emphasis should shift to the regular session that begins Jan. 19. “The state needs to recog- nize the magnitude of this challenge, and we need to be providing the resources to meet that challenge,” he said. “At this stage, we’re not pro- viding the resources to get the work done today, nor are we building the capacity to do the restoration of tomorrow. That’s what this session needs to be about: building the capacity so we can meet the magnitude of the challenge.” He’ll always remember this winter vacation. It’s when he got his skin cancer. One in fi ve Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime. Don’t let your child be one. Before you take kids out in the sun, make sure they are wearing sunscreen and are covered up. “I work to make every patient feel comfortable in the dental chair. I strive to educate every patient so that they can make choices about their oral health with certainty and leave the offi ce with assurance that they made the right decision. Building confi dence in patients and trust with patients ensures that I can deliver the best dental care that we decide is right.” See us at our NEW LOCATION! Gerald Peters, MD, FAAD, FACMS JOHN LUKE COVALT, DDS (541) 640-5365 965 SW Emkay Dr #100, Bend www.awbreydental.com Ann Reitan, MHS, PA-C • Ericka Luckel, PA-C Julie Natoli, PA-C 541-323-SKIN (7546) • www.petersderm.com 2353 NE Conners Ave, Bend