State leaders send forestry department extra $47.5 million to cover mounting wildfire costs

The Oregon Department of Forestry is getting help from the state's general fund to pay its bills after a record wildfire season.

The Legislative Emergency Board voted Wednesday to send $47.5 million to the forestry department to help cover the costs of the 2024 wildfire season. Spending on wildfires this year has topped nearly $250 million, about 2.5 times the amount budgeted for the forestry department and the State Fire Marshal's Office for wildfire response.

"The Department of Forestry has done incredible work fighting these fires under difficult weather conditions and with personnel and resources stretched thin across multiple states," Senate President Rob Wagner, D-Lake Oswego, said in a news release.

About half of the $47.5 million was previously earmarked for a potentially expensive wildfire season, while the board, comprised of ten representatives and ten senators, appropriated $20 million as emergency funding.

More than 2,000 fires have scorched nearly 2 million acres this year – a record in the state and more than three times the 10-year average for acres burned. Gov. Tina Kotek has invoked the Conflagration Act 17 times this year – a new record – with the latest on Sept. 10 for the Service Fire in Wheeler County. The previous record was in 2020, when Kotek invoked the act 16 times, said John Hendricks, a spokesman for the fire marshal. The act unleashes resources to fight blazes threatening lives, communities, or key infrastructure.

Kotek also asked for federal help and regulatory flexibility for farmers and ranchers who have lost land used for animals and plants while urging Congress to pass a spending bill to fund federal agencies and fully increase firefighter pay.

According to experts, the state will likely wrap up its now five-month-long fire season in mid-October. Projections from the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which coordinates wildfire resources, indicate the state could face one or two more high-risk days before the 2024 wildfire season is over.

oregoncapitalchronicle.com