Draft of Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map Mandated by Legislature Released

The Oregon Department of Forestry today released drafts of new statewide wildfire hazard and wildland-urban interface maps developed by Oregon State University scientists.

The draft maps can be viewed online on Oregon Explorer and the Department of Forestry will accept comment on them through Aug. 18. Comments can be sent to [email protected].

The maps are expected to be finalized by the department and OSU on Oct. 1 once public comments and suggested edits from county planners have been considered.

The wildfire hazard map was mandated by Senate Bill 762, a $220 million legislative package in 2021 aimed at improving Oregon’s wildfire preparedness through fire-adapted communities, safe and effective response to fire, and increasing the resilience of the state’s landscapes.

By law, the maps will not be used by insurers to adjust rates, or by the state to make landowners modify the components of the building they live or work in unless significant updates are planned for structures within high hazard areas in the WUI.

Wildfires in September 2020 burned a large swath of the Oregon Cascades. Photo courtesy Oregon State University.
The wildfire hazard map is designed to support strategic actions to aid community wildfire protection and provide information for Oregonians about wildfire hazard in the landscapes where they live.

Once finalized, the map will be used in conjunction with the wildland-urban interface map to identify which properties will be subject to new defensible space codes or fire-hardening building codes.

Only properties that are both categorized as high hazard and in the wildland-urban interface will be subject to the new codes. The Oregon State Fire Marshal oversees defensible space regulations and the Department of Consumer and Business Services Building Codes Division oversees fire hardening codes. Each has informational resources available for affected landowners.

The wildfire hazard map is an update of one released in June 2022 and later withdrawn to allow for greater public engagement.

“Since the first map was withdrawn, we’ve reviewed thousands of pieces of feedback,” said Andy McEvoy of the OSU College of Forestry. “In coordination with counties, local planners, land managers and wildfire risk scientists, we’ve made some important changes in response to all that feedback.”

Kyle Williams, deputy director of fire operations at ODF, said the feedback has been diligently addressed and that the draft maps are based on the core principles of wildfire science.

“With one more round of public input, we will be well situated to finalize a hazard map that will contribute to advancing wildfire protection in Oregon as the legislature intended,” Williams said.

McEvoy points out three main differences between the original map and the new draft map:

• The maps categorize properties according to three hazard classes – low, moderate or high – rather than five risk classes.
• In response to public feedback to the first map, OSU scientists adjusted the way hazard is calculated in hay and pasturelands, which often won’t burn because they’re either irrigated or grazed. And if they do burn, the scientists point out, it’s usually later in fire season and only under severe weather conditions. The result of the changes is a reduced hazard level for about 1.7 million acres.
• Also in response to public feedback, scientists modified hazard calculations on irrigated croplands to account for irrigation reducing the likelihood and intensity of wildfires in these areas. All croplands identified as having been irrigated in at least one of the last five years were placed in the low hazard category in the current draft map, affecting about 2.7 million acres. The state board of forestry will vote in September to finalize the rule on irrigated agriculture.

McEvoy notes that existing defensible space and/or fire hardening characteristics of properties were not accounted for in the hazard calculations.

“The wildfire hazard map is intended to represent environmental hazard as a result of the surrounding climate, weather, topography and vegetation,” he said.

Oregon has 1.8 million tax lots and each has been placed into one of the three hazard categories. The map is so detailed that in some cases, two neighbors may be in different categories.

“The idea is that regardless of which category someone lives in, resources can be offered to help people be as prepared for wildfire as they possibly can be,” McEvoy said.