ODF Out With New Wildfire Risk Map Timeline

Oregon’s Department of Forestry has revised its timeline for re-releasing its Wildfire Risk Map.  ODF’s Derek Gasperini said a new draft is now due March 1st, following more public engagement and outreach.

“It would be easy for us to just make a few adjustments to the map and issue it again. But, we want to be able to make sure we have community-level conversations about what it means and why geographical features and why landscape-scale risk may be in play in those communities, before we put a final map that has regulatory connections to it.”

Gasperini expects that final map to be released in October 2023, when they’ll start notifying property owners in the highest-risk area, and launch a 60-day appeals process.  He pointed out ODF complied with the original timeline set by Senate Bill 762, but now it’s time to back up and help Oregonians understand why the Wildfire Risk Map is necessary.

“For the next 12 months, we plan on having a far more robust information campaign around wildfire exposure, around the hazards for wildfire.”

He added the goal of ODF is to have all Oregonians understand what the regulatory impact are moving forward.

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