Governor’s Council on Wildfire Response

In response to nearly a decade-long expansion of Oregon’s wildfire season, following a presentation in December 2018 at the Oregon Business Leadership Summit, in January 2019 Governor Kate Brown announced her plans to create a Governor’s Council on Wildfire Response. The Council was tasked with reviewing Oregon’s current model for wildfire prevention, preparedness and response, and analyzing the sustainability of the current model to provide recommendations to strengthen, improve, or replace existing systems. Unfortunately, despite the energy placed on this effort by Governor Brown, and the unprecedented response by Oregonians from across the state to serve as Council members, there was virtually no money to staff the project. Fortunately, given the Oregon Business Council’s longstanding focus on forest and forest health, OBC Executive Director Duncan Wyse was able to assign me to serve as the Council’s informal chief of staff.

While you won’t find my name anywhere in its official papers, according to Wildfire Council Chair Matt Donegan, “This would never have happened without your support.”

Without a budget, working on such an enormous task my job ranged from scheduling meetings for the Chair, establish and maintain communication among Council members , its various work groups, and the interested public, organize briefings for members of the Oregon legislature and members of the federal delegation to Congress, and meet regularly with Governor Brown’s natural resource team. When the discussions around the relationship between wildfire and land use were confronted by a major political roadblock, I was asked by the Chair to serve as its convener. Through regular meetings, solid analysis, and good diplomacy we were able to overcome these obstacles and produce unprecedented accord on wildfire and land use among stakeholders that historically have a hard time discussing anything at all.

The results of the work of the Council were impressive:

The Report was completed in November 2019

I organized and participated in briefings with a wide range of stakeholders, including the Association of Oregon Counties, the League of Oregon Cities, Association of Oregon Land Use Planners, Farm Bureau, and others. Additionally, we briefed relevant agency heads as well as committees with jurisdiction on natural resource, public health, and energy policies.

The December 2019 Business Leadership Summit made wildfire response a top priority.

Numerous wildfire related bills that were introduced during the 2020 session.

SB1514 (accelerate pace and scale of forest restoration),
SB1515 (investments in wildfire response equipment and personnel),
SB1516 (create a forest internship program)
SB1536 (Governor Brown's omnibus wildfire bill),
HB4054 (wildfire and Land Use),
HB4066 (wildfire and transmission), and
HB4166 (study the costs of and payments to wildfire response).

With the exception of the wildfire and transmission and the 'who pays for wildfire' bills, ultimately SB1536 was amended to include the key items contained in the other bills. At the closure of the session, all three bills had passed out of committee and were waiting for floor votes and final action.

The premature end of the 2020 session, and given our current focus on both COVID-19 and addressing systemic racism, the future regarding the work of the Wildfire Council is unclear.