County Commissioners vote 2-1 to appeal State wildfire hazard map designations

The Deschutes County Board of Commissioners (BOCC) is taking action based on feedback it received from community members regarding the state’s wildfire hazard map.

On Monday, Feb. 24, the BOCC voted 2-1 to submit an appeal form on behalf of all county properties within the wildland-urban interface and designated “high” on the wildfire hazard map. Commissioners DeBone and Adair voted “Yes,” and Commissioner Chang voted “No.”

The state wildfire hazard map, published on Jan. 7, was developed by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and Oregon State University (OSU) under Senate Bill (SB) 762. It provides a wildfire hazard classification and a wildland-urban interface (WUI) designation for every property in the state of Oregon. Properties classified as high hazard and within the WUI, or within an area where wildland vegetation intermingles with urban structures, may be required to meet fire hardening standards in the future.

The wildfire hazard map currently classifies 21,258 Deschutes County properties as high hazard and within the WUI. Property owners who disagree with their property’s classification came to a recent BOCC meeting to express their concerns about the validity of the statewide map and to ask commissioners to advocate against it.

“We are submitting a single appeal on behalf of more than 21,000 property owners in Deschutes County,” said Commissioner Chair Tony DeBone. “Our intent is to show support and encourage state legislators to repeal the map.”

“Private property rights are so important to our citizens, and they don’t want these high hazard designations to limit how they use their land or what structures they build,” said Commissioner Patti Adair. “By filing this mass appeal, we hope to send that message to the Governor and State Legislators.”

“Insurance companies are using their own proprietary maps and models to make decisions about premiums and coverage for homeowner policies, not the state wildfire hazard map. So, the County is not fighting for better insurance rates with this appeal decision, the County is fighting against requirements for defensible space and home hardening that our community needs to make all of our homes safer from wildfire,” said Commissioner Phil Chang. “The map could be fairer if it identified more homes as high hazard in our extremely fire-prone region, this appeal isn’t pushing to make the map better, just to get rid of it.”

The appeals form, submitted to ODF by Commissioner DeBone on Wednesday, states that the wildfire hazard maps are “inaccurate, inconsistent, incomplete and unverified, and appear to be predicated upon conjecture, assumptions and speculation.” The County is uncertain whether the Oregon Administrative Rules allow appeal forms to be submitted for a group of properties. The county submission should not be considered a substitute for an appeal from individual property owners. The Board encourages property owners who receive an appeal form to submit and return it by the March 10 deadline.

The Board also encourages residents to prepare their properties ahead of wildfire season and recommends they take advantage of county programs to reduce their wildfire risk. Those programs include the Sweat Equity Bin Rental Program, FireFree and Project Wildfire.

For more information about the wildfire hazard maps including frequently asked questions (FAQs) regarding the appeal process, visit the ODF website.

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Media Contact:

Kim Katchur, Public Information Officer

(541) 322-7441