After years of political gridlock, wildfire disaster brings “new reality” in Oregon
SALEM, ORE. » The warnings kept getting more dire: Even in the lush landscapes west of the Cascade Mountains, the climate in Oregon was getting warmer and drier. More people were moving up into the tree- covered hills, where thick forests were poised for ignition.
Early this year, looking to overcome the political stalemates that have long paralyzed decisions in the West around timber and wildfires, Gov. Kate Brown backed legislation to tackle the whole range of problems: thinning the forests, hiring more firefighters, establishing new requirements to make homes more fire- resistant and — looking to the future — a capandtrade program on greenhouse gas emissions that would assure that Oregon was doing its part to combat climate change. “We must be prepared for the more voracious wildfire seasons to come,” Brown said.
Within weeks, though, the plans were dead. Republican lawmakers staged a walkout on the cap- and- trade proposal, and the bills that would have provided millions of dollars to prevent and suppress wildfires were left on the table.
Months later, the scenario everyone feared came to pass: A series of historic wildfires this month has wiped out communities and killed at least nine people in Oregon. The fires have burned more than 5 million acres in three states. With dozens still burning along the West Coast, fire officials said this week that some may not be contained until the end of October.
“It brings a new reality,” said Roger Nyquist, a Republican county commissioner in Linn County, one of the counties hit by the Beachie Creek fire, which destroyed hundreds of homes in communities along Oregon 22. “I think we’ve got to have a balanced conversation.”
State Sen. Lew Frederick, a Democrat, said he hopes the devastation Oregon has seen over the past several weeks, including hazardous smoke that blanketed the region for days, would help shift the politics. Frederick said informal discussions are underway about how to address wildfires and that there is a chance the Legislature could convene in a special session to vote on new measures this year.
“How long will it last? I don’t know,” Frederick said. “I hope it lasts longer than it has in the past.”
But state Sen. Herman Baertschiger Jr., who was the Republican minority leader involved in the walkout over the cap- and- trade plan, worried that groups ranging from logging proponents on the right to environmentalists on the left might dig in during a time of intense political polarization.
Given the ferociousness of the fires and the power of the warm,
dry winds that propelled them through the towering Douglas firs of the western Cascades, the measures that Brown supported this year would have had little chance to make a substantial difference. But policymakers emphasize that adjusting to the reality of a warming climate is a long game — as are the strategies for combating wildfire.
Fires have always been a part of the region’s landscape, and long before European settlers arrived, American Indians embraced controlled burning as a strategy to manage the lands. While the types of blazes that Oregon saw this month — summer flames stoked by dry winds from the east — are not common, they are not unheard- of in the Northwest’s more recent history.
The tensions over how to manage the state’s timberlands properly also have been around
since the state’s inception.
The often competing interests between economic growth and environmental stewardship have been locked for decades in disagreements, including a battle over the spotted owl. That dispute escalated to the point that President Bill Clinton had to intervene to strike a solution that became the Northwest Forest Plan.
But some areas preserved for wildlife and recreation have sprouted robust, combustible trees and underbrush, and the risk of wildfires has continued to grow. Since the environmental compromises of the early 1990s, the wildland- urban interface where communities are most at risk of wildfire in Oregon has seen the number of homes grow by about 40%. Population growth there and elsewhere has also raised the prospect of more human- caused fires.