Emergency funding approved to fight Oregon wildfires

SALEM, Ore. – Oregon lawmakers are calling for a new way to pay for wildfire response after approving emergency funds for the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF).

KGW previously reported that 2024 was the costliest wildfire season in state history, with total costs most recently exceeding $260 million. By mid-September, more than 1.9 million acres of land had burned across Oregon, nearly twice as much as any other year in the past 30 years.

Oregon's Emergency Board, an agency that allocates emergency funds to state departments until lawmakers return to make permanent funding decisions, approved a $47.5 million request for ODF on Wednesday using a variety of funding sources.

For all of its many requests from competing state agencies, the E-Board allocated $24 million from its own general fund. The bulk of that — $20 million — went to ODF to cover wildfire costs, demonstrating the board's priority and the agency's urgent needs.

In response, some lawmakers said the current system was unsustainable because fire costs had increased too much and called on the state to develop a new funding or wildfire suppression strategy.

“It’s time for us to actually rethink, or at least perhaps modernize, the way we calculate the cost of major disasters,” said Rep. Paul Evans, D-District 20, Monmouth. “I think we are now in an era where fires and emergencies are getting worse every year.”

Even with the $47.5 million emergency allocation, state analysts at the Legislative Fiscal Office Project ODF will be insolvent by November without additional help, including a payroll loan and executive action.

Rep. Mark Owens, who sits on the E-board, cited this summer's Falls Fire as evidence of change.

“The financial oppression cost $100 million. Oregon can't get out of this problem even with insurance policies,” said Owens, R-Crane. “Ladies and gentlemen, to emphasize the obvious: this will be expensive.”

Owens added that he recently spoke with contractors who helped fight the wildfires this summer and are still waiting to be paid.

“ODF owes this company $1.1 million based on the current budget and the amount of money that needs to be spent,” he said. “You called me yesterday; they don’t have enough money to pay payroll…that’s why we need to act today because they need to take out a loan to pay their employees.”

Prioritizing wildfire emergency funding means other agency requests will have to wait, such as the Port of Portland. Gov. Tina Kotek directed the Port of Portland and Oregon's business development division to request $5 million for “critical investments” at the port's Terminal 6, the state's only international container terminal offering ocean freight services.

According to the Port of Portland spokesperson, the E-Board postponed the $5 million request to a later meeting.

The spokesperson thanked Governor Kotek for recognizing the terminal's impact on the regional economy and the need for improvements, adding, “We know that many communities in Oregon have been devastated by wildfires this year and support federal investments in these areas, and.” We look forward to continuing this conversation with the Joint Emergency Board in December.”