Work group sets $280 million funding floor, offers mix of revenue options for Oregon wildfire response

At a March 5, 2024 meeting of the Public Safety Subcommittee, state forestry and fire agencies presented the wildfire funding work group report, which identified a funding floor of $280,000,000 and recommended a package of revenue strategies to create a longer-term, durable funding structure for wildfire mitigation and suppression.

The work group — a 35-member panel convened under a 2024 budget note tied to legislative direction in Senate Bill 5701 — concluded that Oregon needs a standing funding approach to cover rising wildfire costs. “By every measure, fire seasons are growing more complex,” said Doug Graff, wildfire and military advisor to Governor Kotek. The agencies highlighted that roughly 1,900,000 acres burned in Oregon during the prior fire season.

The work group’s report, presented by Travis Madema, chief deputy for the Department of State Fire Marshal, and Kyle Williams, Deputy Director of Fire Operations at the Oregon Department of Forestry, stressed four principles: durable long-term funding for both mitigation and response, alignment of funding to costs, shared statewide responsibility, and equity and…