wildfire

It may be cold with snow on the ground, but the U.S. Forest Service is already looking to the fire season ahead.  Oregon’s ongoing drought, more frequent heatwaves and less rain and snow, mean longer and more intense fire seasons.   “The h...

2022 will go into the books as the third-costliest year for weather disasters in U.S. history.  The estimated total economic losses reached $165 billion.  New analysis by American Farm Bureau economists shows extreme weather caused more than $21 billion in crop losses.     A...

Four western senators introduced legislation Tuesday aimed at reducing the risk of catastrophic wildfires across the region.  The Wildfire Emergency Act, introduced by Oregon’s Ron Wyden, California senators Dianne Feinstein and Alex Padilla as well as Montana’s Steve Daines would allow the Forest Service to leverage private financing to accelerate forest restoration projects and create a program

The Oregon Department of Forestry was scheduled to release the next draft of the controversial Wildfire Risk Map in March, but that has been put on hold, thanks to action by state lawmakers.  Under 2021’s Senate Bill 762, ODF was charged with the creation of the map, but the first draft that was released in August proved so unpopular statewide, the Department pumped the breaks for another six mont

The Washington state Department of Natural Resource will hold two free workshops next month for contractors interested in working on fuel reduction projects with private landowners.  And DNR noted, such projects may be eligible for DNR cost share funding.    ...

The Washington state Department of Natural Resources announced this week it is expanding its wildfire response team across the state.  DNR will add 60 positions, including hand crews, heavy equipment operators and more.  Commissioner of Public Lands Hilary Franz says these new positions, made possible by House Bill 1168, won’t be limited to a wildfire fighting role, they’ll also be trained to do f

Much of the Northwest has seen some precipitation and cooler temperatures over that past week.  And become of that, the Oregon Department of Forestry announced that Fire Season officially comes to an end on Saturday.  ODF’s Jessica Prakke said despite predictions, the 2022 fire season turned out fairly tame.   "Our detection s...

While the fire season is not quite over, the Idaho Department of Lands is reporting a “drastic decrease” in the number of acres burned this year.  According to IDL leadership, it started last year when the Department went to state lawmakers, asking for: increased pay for firefighters, hazard pay, and more firefighters.  The boost in resour...

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...

Dozens of wildfires continue to burn across the western U.S. which has led to a lot of smoke and air quality issues, especially across Idaho, Montana and other states in the northern Rockies.  And while conditions remain ripe for fires to start and spread, USDA meteorologist Brad Rippey said the wildfire picture has improved here in the west, when compared to last week.   “...