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Commission hears Climate Change Action Plan annual report; staff outline goals on oak mapping, fire risk, EVs and tribal priorities
Summary
Commission staff delivered the 2024 Climate Change Action Plan annual report, reporting progress on tribal outreach, oak-woodland mapping, fuels-reduction targets and EV infrastructure while noting funding and timing constraints.
Staff presented the commission’s 2024 Climate Change Action Plan annual report, summarizing work since the plan’s adoption and milestones for 2024–25.
Lisa Nos Cook, climate program manager, summarized priority work areas and near-term targets: tribal treaty-rights outreach and First Foods protection efforts; completion of Oregon white oak mapping and a staff policy assessment to inform possible management-plan updates; a fuels-treatment target (the plan set a 2025 target of 2,200 acres for fuels reductions and related work, and staff reported roughly 2,185 acres completed to date on National Forest System lands); growth in Firewise USA community sites (staff reported seven Firewise USA sites in good standing within the National Scenic Area); monitoring and vital-sign indicator work with a public-facing reporting platform planned for summer; and electric-vehicle (EV) infrastructure mapping, with six of the 13 urban areas reported to have at least level-2 or DC fast charging and an expected six-charger installation at the Lyle market by September 2025 that staff said will help close a charging gap.
Staff said they had secured bi-state climate funding as of December 2024 to support implementation but noted that recent events have affected funding availability and that some grant funds are currently frozen. The Climate Change Action Plan includes actions across adaptation and mitigation priorities — from cold-water refugia and oak corridors to regional transportation and community wildfire preparedness — and staff said roughly two-thirds of the plan’s 83 actions are underway or completed.
Colin Jarvis, a Climate Corps fellow, described the Climate Stewards community training that begins the evening of the meeting and will run through May, with field trips and capstone projects focused on cold-water refuges, tribal First Foods, agriculture and fire-adapted communities.
Commissioners asked staff to coordinate sequencing between an Echo Northwest equity audit of the management plan and the Abarna DEI workshops so consultant products can inform workshop discussions where feasible; staff said timing constraints (state-directed DEI funds that expire June 30) limit flexibility but staff will pursue coordination where possible and will report back to the commission.
