The Oregon Department of Forestry has been delivering on the commitment to get outstanding payments to wildland fire vendors as quickly as possible. The department processed $88 million since the Legislature allocated the department $191.5 million for the historic and costly 2024 fire season during its recent special session.
“Without these vendors, we could not have provided Oregonians with the wildfire protection we did this year,” said State Forester Cal Mukumoto, ODF director. “It was critically important to take care of those who served right alongside us all summer.”
Prior to the recent special session, ODF had paid out $130 million in fire season costs. Some of that money came from the State Emergency Board—which allocated $40 million toward the state’s portion of large fire costs in September—but the other $90 million was paid from the budgets of non-fire ODF programs. Under the state’s current wildfire funding structure, ODF uses budgeted funds from its other lines of business to pay for fire season costs and then carries that debt while awaiting federal reimbursements. This approach worked when gross large fire costs were averaging $11 million a year. Over the past decade, that average jumped to around $79 million, but the funding provided for large fires hasn’t increased accordingly.
“I commend the ODF team for their swift action to ensure the state’s fire season costs are paid after having received the necessary resources from the Legislature during the recent special session. Again, my appreciation to lawmakers for their expeditious work,” said Governor Tina Kotek. “Next year, I look forward to working with legislators to ensure the state finds a pathway for sustainable funding to cover wildfire costs in the years ahead.”
Despite ODF’s effort, this year’s large fire costs far exceeded the funds ODF could muster, resulting in significant delays in payments to the companies that provide critical firefighting resources like people, aircraft and heavy equipment.
“It was a stressful time for our folks, as many had to take out credit lines to make their payrolls and pay their bills,” explained Deborah Miley, executive director, National Wildfire Suppression Association. “Our members provide a significant amount of response to assist our agency partners during fire season, and we are proud to provide quality, cost-effective resources in Oregon’s time of need and look forward to continuing to serve.”
Remaining fire costs are still under review. All charges and associated documentation are reviewed for accuracy and completeness by department payment teams prior to being approved for payment.
While the $191.5 million from the special session will help ODF considerably in cashflow management over the remainder of the biennium, the cashflow issue is just a symptom of the larger problem: how wildfire response and mitigation are funded in Oregon. “The way response and mitigation are currently funded is inadequate to address the growing complexity and cost of wildfires Oregon faces today,” Mukumoto said. “The workgroup we have been heading up with the Department of the State Fire Marshal has been working hard for the past several months to identify alternative funding strategies to bring to the 2025 Legislature for consideration.”
The Governor’s Recommended Budget for the 2025-27 biennium identifies the need for at least an additional $130 million through new revenue to modernize and fully fund the state’s wildfire readiness and mitigation programs on an ongoing basis. This direction is in addition to the specific recommendation for $150 million to be redirected from going into state reserves and instead be appropriated to the agencies to pay for wildfire suppression costs as needed.
|
|
