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The state of Oregon is in the process of mapping wildfire risk on every tax lot in the state—a map that will have major consequences for property owners and developers as the state faces a climate reality with even more fires in the future.
OPB News looked at the mapping process and public comment period which will formally define the state's wildland-urban interface, or WUI. Lots in extreme or high risk areas will be subject to new building and zoning codes that were passed as part of a wildfire preparedness package in the wake of fires that burned more than 4,000 homes in 2020.
“There are opposing views,” said Derek Gasperini with the Oregon Department of Forestry. “There are those that want a very small WUI because folks don’t want to be subject to regulation whatever that might look like. There are also folks who do want to be in the WUI because there are grants available to help people pay for home hardening requirements.”
The state estimates that of roughly 900,000 tax lots in the wildland-urban interface, 230,000 may end up classified as extreme or high wildfire risk. The risk map will be completed by the end of June.
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You know, what they’re trying to do is a sort of a carefully balanced step here. They’re not having a lockdown, a total lockdown of any new oil and gas leasing. But they’re also signaling that it’s a new day.”
