Senate committee hears broad support to repeal statewide wildfire hazard map; debate to continue

The Senate Committee on Natural Resources and Wildfire on April 1, 2025, held a public hearing on Senate Bill 83, which would repeal the statewide wildfire hazard map and strip the map-linked statewide mandates enacted in prior sessions. Chair Golden opened the hearing and asked agency and stakeholder witnesses to present details and context.

Senate Bill 83 would declare prior Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) orders that assigned properties to wildfire hazard zones null and void, remove statutory provisions that created the statewide hazard map and wildland‑urban interface classifications, and detach defensible‑space and building‑code obligations from any statewide map. Instead, the bill requires the State Fire Marshal to develop model defensible‑space guidance and a model building‑code option that local governments could adopt voluntarily. The bill also removes a question about wildfire hazard classification from property disclosure forms and detaches program priorities (including the small forest land grant program) from any map classification.

Doug Graff, Wildfire Programs Director and Military Advisor at the Governor’s Office, told the committee the governor asked the Department of Forestry to pause appeals of hazard‑map decisions while the legislature considers SB 83 so appellants’ places in the queue are preserved. Graff said the legislature must focus on “making Oregon communities safer from…