Oregon wildfire season could be complicated by federal cuts
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Much of Oregon is expected to be at high fire risk by mid-summer. Photo: Courtesy USDA Forest Service
Oregon could be in for another intense wildfire season, just a year after the state broke a number of records.
Why it matters: In 2024, Oregon saw the most acres burn in recorded history, along with the most money spent on firefighting.
- With the season expected to start just a few months from now, state lawmakers are still looking for a solution to the funding problem.
State of play: John Saltenberger, lead meteorologist at the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center, which leads federal wildfire response in the region, said many parts of Oregon saw above-average precipitation over the winter.
- That could mean more vegetation growth in some areas, which could push back the start of the season by a few weeks, Saltenberger told Axios, but it could also increase fire risk once all that fuel dries out.
- Saltenberger said all of eastern Oregon will have "unusually high risk for large, costly fires in July," with the rest of the state to follow by August.
Catch up quick: Last year, large grassland conflagrations tore through swaths of eastern Oregon.
- Nearly 2 million acres burned across the state, with a cost of more than $132 million — both record highs.
- The Legislature was forced to hold a special session late last year to address unpaid bills to contractors.
Follow the money: Several bills were being considered in the regular legislative session — from allocating lottery funds to increasing Oregon's bottle tax — to raise funds for firefighting, though lawmakers have yet to settle on any of the proposals being floated.
- Gov. Tina Kotek instructed lawmakers to come up with roughly $300 million in additional funds to prevent and fight fires, saying "if I have to get involved, I will by the end of session," per the Oregonian.
Threat level: Adding to the uncertainty is the level of cuts to federal agencies.
- Though public safety sector employees were supposed to be exempt from job cuts, reporting from ProPublica indicates hundreds of staffers in firefighting agencies have been let go nationally.
- And some organizations in Oregon that work on wildfire prevention have seen federal funding frozen.
What they're saying: John Bailey, a professor specializing in fire ecology at Oregon State University, said whether federal resources will be available when we need them remains an open question.
- "In the Forest Service, in the BLM, even in the Park Service, there's just a ton of uncertainty," he told Axios. "The rubber is going to hit the road this coming summer."
- A spokesperson for the Northwest Coordination Center did not respond to questions about the readiness of federal agencies.
The bottom line: What will ultimately define how the fire season looks, Saltenberger said, is weather and people.
- "What will really determine the severity of our fire season is where the wind shows up, where the lightning shows up, where excessive ignitions from careless humans show up," he said.