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Kotek touts federal awards, urges wildfire reserves and recurring mitigation funding
Summary
Governor Tina Kotek outlined federally funded resource wins for habitat restoration, solar expansion and resilient communities, and proposed state reserves and biennial funding to address rising wildfire costs.
Gov. Tina Kotek highlighted federal grant awards for natural-resource projects and pushed for dedicated state reserves and recurring funding to prepare for future wildfire seasons.
Kotek said state agencies applied for federal programs and that Oregon received more than $43 million for habitat restoration, wildfire mitigation, water management and species conservation; nearly $90 million to expand solar access; approximately $200 million from the Environmental Protection Agency for resilient communities and grid modernization; and $52 million through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program for public fast chargers on major highway corridors.
She described the 2024 wildfire season as "historic," saying the fires burned more than 1,900,000 acres and cost a record $350,000,000. In response, she recommended using $150,000,000 from the ending fund balance to build reserves for catastrophic wildfire suppression costs and asked the Legislature to provide at least $130,000,000 every two years to fund hazard reduction, prescribed fire, home hardening and firefighting readiness, following the Wildfire Programs Advisory Council guidance.
Kotek framed these proposals as necessary complements to federal funds and local work, and she said she looked forward to the wildfire funding work group's revenue recommendations.
The governor presented the funding recommendations as budget priorities requiring legislative approval; the federal awards mentioned are grants and program funds awarded to the state or state-supported projects and not direct state appropriations.
