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County signs collaboration with Wildfire Research Center to survey 2,000 La Pine residents to guide mitigation outreach
Summary
Deschutes County approved an agreement to partner with the Wildfire Research Center (WyRe) to survey up to 2,000 La Pine residents on wildfire preparedness and perceptions; WyRe will provide $28,000 and the county will own the data and use findings to inform Community Wildfire Defense Grant activities.
The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners on Thursday authorized an agreement with the Wildfire Research Center (WyRe) to conduct household surveys in the Greater La Pine area to inform wildfire‑preparedness outreach and help implement the county’s Community Wildfire Defense Grant work.
Lauren Street, the county’s community wildfire protection supervisor, said WyRe would conduct surveys of up to 2,000 residents and contribute approximately $28,000 to the effort; the county will provide staff capacity for outreach and own the resulting data and report. Street said the survey will ask residents about preparedness, evacuation readiness, mitigation actions and barriers to taking action, and that results will guide outreach and on‑the‑ground mitigation supported by the county’s CWPP grant funds.
"This will be kind of the social guidance that we'll use to then implement a lot of the work that we were already geared up to do through that community wildfire defense grant," Street said. Commissioners emphasized pairing social data with on‑the‑ground action and noted the county already has funding (more than $3.4 million referenced in discussion) for mitigation work in the area.
The agreement is a collaborative arrangement with no funds exchanged from the county to WyRe; WyRe brings the survey funding. The board moved, seconded and approved the collaboration and authorized county administrator signature.
Next steps: staff will execute the agreement, initiate meetings with WyRe and local partners (including the La Pine Basin All Lands Partnership) to finalize survey content and then implement outreach tied to the CWPP implementation plan.
