Oregon Department of Forestry releases revised statewide wildfire hazard zone maps after initial version was pulled

State law bars insurers from using maps to determine rates, coverage

SALEM, Ore. (KTVZ) — The revised statewide maps of wildfire hazard zones and the wildland-urban interface are complete and final versions are now available on the Oregon Explorer website, the Oregon Department of Forestry said Tuesday, about 18 months after the initial, controversial maps were pulled for revisions.

Notifications are being mailed to impacted property owners and should be expected to arrive over the next several days, ODF said.

The wildfire hazard map's purposes are to:

• Educate Oregon residents and property owners about the level of hazard where they live.
• Assist in prioritizing fire adaptation and mitigation resources for the most vulnerable locations.
• Identify where defensible space standards and home hardening codes will apply.

The statewide wildfire hazard map designates all of Oregon’s 1.9 million property tax lots into one of three wildfire hazard zones: low, moderate or high. It also identifies whether a tax lot is within boundaries of the wildland-urban interface. Properties that are in both a high hazard zone and within the wildland-urban interface will be prioritized for future wildfire risk mitigation resources and actions.

To help protect these communities, future defensible space and home-hardening building codes may apply to properties with both designations. All properties with both designations are receiving a certified mail packet informing them of the designations, outlining their appeal rights and explaining the appeal process, and explaining what the designation might mean for them and their property.

“It’s a hefty packet of information that property owners will receive by certified mail,” said Tim Holschbach, Wildfire Hazard Map Lay Representative. “However, we want to ensure Oregonians get all the relevant information they need on their wildfire hazard exposure.”

Anyone that does not receive a packet but is still interested in learning about the wildfire hazard where they live can visit the Oregon Explorer website. A Property Owner’s Report is available for every Oregon tax lot and includes information about hazards and resources.

The road to completed maps has been a long one. After the initial wildfire map was released and rescinded in summer of 2022, ODF and OSU spent more than two years receiving and analyzing feedback to improve the product available today, including a recent public comment period.

Draft versions of the statewide wildfire hazard and wildland-urban interface maps were available to the public for review and comment from July 18 to August 18. ODF received nearly 2,000 comments from the public during the 30-day comment period.

After reviewing the comments on the draft maps, ODF identified one key theme that had not been previously addressed in prior adjustments to the map: neighbor-to-neighbor variation in hazard zones.  

In response, researchers took a closer look at those variations and their causes. OSU evaluated scientific methods to reduce neighbor-to-neighbor variations in hazard zone designations that were still in accordance with legislative rules directing development of the map.

This final adjustment is in addition to other revisions that have been made to the map over the last two years in response to feedback from elected officials, county governments and the public. Other updates to the map since 2022 include:

• Adjustments for hay and pasturelands.
• Adjustments for northwest Oregon forest fuels.
• Adjustments for certain irrigated agricultural fields.
• Corrections for verified anomalies identified by county planners.

“It’s important that the map is as objective and understandable as possible,” said Kyle Williams, Deputy Director of Fire Operations at ODF. “It took additional time to ensure community protection measures like home hardening and defensible space are prioritized in communities of highest wildfire hazard. It’s been time well spent, and we’re pleased with the diligence ODF staff and OSU researchers put into addressing input from all sources.”

In addition to feedback that resulted in changes to the map, there were two main themes of public input that will not be addressed by map adjustments: insurance and existing defensible space and fire hardening improvements.

Oregon Senate Bill 82 prohibits insurers in Oregon from using this map, or any statewide map, for making decisions on whether to extend coverage or determine rates.

Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation has investigated concerns and confirmed that even prior to passage of Senate Bill 82, no insurance company in Oregon has or will use these maps for insurance purposes.

Additionally, some property owners shared a belief that their hazard rating should be lower due to implementation of defensible space strategies. By law, the map’s hazard assessments are based on weather, climate, topography and vegetation on a broader environmental scale than just an individual property.

If a property owner has implemented appropriate defensible space already, there is likely nothing that a designation of high hazard and being within the wildland-urban interface will require of them when future code requirements are adopted.

Find more information on ODF’s wildfire hazard web page.

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Oregon State University news release:

Updated wildfire hazard map provides landowners, policymakers with objective data to inform wildfire management strategies

CORVALLIS, Ore. – The Oregon Department of Forestry today released final versions of statewide wildfire hazard and wildland-urban interface maps developed by Oregon State University scientists.

The maps can be viewed online on Oregon Explorer; they will be updated about every five years.

The wildfire hazard map as mandated by Senate Bill 762, a $195 million legislative package in 2021 aimed at improving Oregon’s wildfire preparedness through fire-adapted communities, safe and effective response to fire, and increasing the resilience of the state’s landscapes.

The hazard map is designed to support property owners with information about potential wildfire hazard in the landscapes where they live. It also provides state agencies with guidance as to where actions can be taken to reduce the danger wildfire poses to people, homes and property.

The Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal and the Department of Consumer and Business Services Building Codes Division will use the hazard map, along with the wildland-urban interface map also developed by OSU, to identify which properties will be prioritized for wildfire-related education, as well as where to apply new codes regarding defensible space and fire hardening.

According to the maps, 6% of all tax lots, or approximately 106,000, meet these criteria. Landowners for those tax lots will be notified by the Department of Forestry via mail and will also receive informational resources. 

By law, the maps cannot be used by insurers to adjust rates. Oregon’s Division of Financial Regulation oversees the insurance industry in the state.

“The wildfire hazard map is informed by decades of research on the nature of wildfire, where it begins, why it exists, and what the challenges are,” said OSU College of Forestry wildfire scientist Andy McEvoy. “The wildfire hazard map is intended to provide property owners and policymakers with an objective foundation for making decisions.”

The map’s release comes at a time of increasing wildfire hazard across Oregon because of longer fire seasons and more pronounced periods of hot, dry conditions, including drier vegetation that can lead to rapid wildfire spread and greater fire intensity.

Senate Bill 762 directed Oregon State University to consider four criteria for calculating wildfire hazard: climate, weather, topography and vegetation. Scientists consulted available data in published scientific research, including weather data and climate data. The process was informed by three years of public engagement with partner agencies (Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon Department of the State Fire Marshal, Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services), fire modeling experts, local subject matter experts, advisory committees and stakeholders.

“Wildfire hazard represents an environmental perspective of how climate, weather, and landscape characteristics all interact and determine where fires occur, how often they occur, and how they behave, said McEvoy. “Hazard maps, and the science behind them, help both landowners and policymakers better understand the wildfire problem and make informed decisions about how we might solve it.”