PFT’s comments to the Oregon Governor’s Council on Wildfire Response
Since January, when Oregon Governor Kate Brown created the Governor’s Council on Wildfire Response, PFT has been an active participant in two of its committees, those on Suppression and Mitigation. The meeting of the Council on Wildfire Response held today was initially scheduled to be its final meeting; as of today, the Council is continuing its work until November. PFT submitted public comments, found below:
September 26, 2019
Ongoing work of the mitigation committee and process for combined recommendations
Chair Donegan, and members of the Council,
Thank you for this opportunity to provide comment. My name is Kaola Swanson and I am the
Oregon Program Director for Pacific Forest Trust. We are a nonprofit land trust and policy shop
that works across the northwest with private forest landowners to conserve their land through
working forest conservation easements and develop incentives for forest conservation and
stewardship.Since January, when Oregon Governor Kate Brown created the Governor’s Council on Wildfire
Response, PFT has been an active participant in two of its committees, those on Suppression
and Mitigation. In this context, PFT has consistently advocated for a holistic approach to
wildfire response, and for strategic, climate smart fire management- incorporating both
prescribed burning and managed natural fires where these can be done safely. These are
critical tools to reduce hazardous fuel loads and promote natural resilience.We have seen first-hand this Council’s and its committees’ dedicated efforts to identify and
address the complex questions associated with wildfire response—and this has been done on a
very short timeline. There is still a great deal of work to do before November to incorporate and
harmonize recommendations from multiple committees into one cohesive report, and to
understand the full funding needs for all aspects of wildfire response, including suppression,
mitigation, and adaptation. We hope the Council will keep in mind the overarching goal of our
need as Oregonians to understand and adapt to living with fire on the landscape as it completes
this work.The Mitigation Committee is developing technical recommendations for implementation; it is
essential they be rooted in the best available science. Having invested the considerable time
and effort required to understand these issues, the Mitigation Committee is now poised to
answer the harder question of how to make decisions with that data. There will be critical work
for the Drafting Committee or Council to define the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), and to
differentiate between approaches for WUI and non-WUI areas in prioritizing and balancing the
needs for suppression activities with the long-term mitigation and adaptation actions so
essential to restoring a safer, healthier forest context.Oregon’s current funding for wildfire response and recovery is unsustainable. It is also
insufficient for future fire management, which many predict will be even more challenging. The
Council’s final recommendations will be critical to developing the business case for increased
public funding and public support for funding the needed work on the ground. An “ROI”
approach should value the avoided costs of reduced intensity and frequency of wildfire, of
homes preserved, of lives unthreatened and dollars unspent. It should also consider the values
of a healthy and resilient forest for water quantity and quality, and resilience to fire and climate
change.PFT supports the recommendation for the mitigation committee to continue to meet in order
to complete our work. We urge the Council’s Financing Committee to identify approaches to
funding wildfire response for the state that are both new and equitable. This will take ongoing
commitment from the Governor and the Council as well as outreach and education of the
general public. PFT stands ready to continue to work closely with leaders and coalition partners
in Oregon to advance the state’s response to wildfires, and restore healthier, more resilient
forests.Thank you.