Governor Kotek Pauses Wildfire Hazard Map Appeals Referrals

Appeals must still be filed by March 10 deadline to stay in process

Salem, OR – Today, Governor Tina Kotek directed the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) to continue to accept all appeals of the Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map up to the March 10 deadline, but to pause on referring these appeals to the Office of Administrative Hearings until after the legislative session concludes. The session must end no later than June 29.

The Governor’s decision allows the Legislature to carry out a public process for deliberating changes to the map requirements absent potential conflicts driven by a concurrent appeals process through the Office of Administrative Hearings. In addition, the pause will prevent Oregonians who elect to appeal their wildfire hazard zone designation from incurring potentially unnecessary legal fees between March and June of this year, if the Legislature makes changes to the Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map.

“Oregonians have raised concerns over the current Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map, and this issue runs parallel to our urgent need for long term, sustainable funding for wildfire response and mitigation,” Governor Kotek said. “The Legislature is rising to the occasion on these challenges. This pause will allow for the transparent, public process required to address both. Lives and lands depend on it.”

Those who wish to appeal the assignment of wildfire hazard zones or designation as wildland-urban interface still must submit the appeal to ODF by March 10, 2025. No attorney is required for this first step in the appeal process. This step simply ensures that those who wish to appeal are in the queue.

If the Legislature does not change the map or appeals process this session, ODF will refer the list of received appeals to the Office of Administrative Hearings following the session and continue the appeals process outlined in existing law.

In response to the Labor Day Fires in 2020, Oregon’s legislature passed SB 762 in 2021 in an attempt to identify and improve wildfire best practices.  One of the original concepts was risk-based wildfire protection and mitigation, where higher risk regions would shoulder more burdensome mitigation requirements, but lower risk regions could avoid extraneous hardening or risk reduction measures.  Oregon’s Department of Forestry, in consultation with Oregon State University,  was to oversee and develop “a comprehensive statewide map of wildfire risk” in a manner that complied with ORS 477.027, and considered weather, climate, topography and vegetation.

The initial rollout of the wildfire hazard maps was met with broad dissatisfaction and bipartisan efforts in 2023 led to SB 80, that focused the purpose of the maps as (1) educating Oregon residents and property owners about the property’s exposure by providing transparent and science-based information, (2) assisting in prioritizing fire adaptation and mitigation resources for the most vulnerable locations, and (3) identifying where defensible space standards and home hardening codes will apply.

SB 80 further required the Department of Forestry to provide notice and information to property owners who were assigned to a “high hazard zone” within the wildland-urban interface, informing the property owner about the fact of their property’s hazard designation and laying out a right to appeal.  Wildfire maps have been updated based on comments received in July and August of 2024 and updates were posted to the Oregon Explorer website on January 7, 2025.

The Department has begun sending out these notices, and you or your clients may be receiving notification that their property has been designated as a high wildfire hazard zone.  Appeals can be sent to the Department of Forestry electronically or by mail, but all appeals must be postmarked no later than March 10, 2025.  Whether the property owner has received a high wildfire hazard designation or not, the property owner can appeal the property’s designation.  Appeals have no cost unless the property owner hires an attorney, in which case the property owner bears that expense.

There is also a wildfire hazard map call center for questions and inquiries, staffed Monday through Saturday from 6:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. until mid-March.

Oregon REALTORS® will continue working to address issues related to wildfire risk and property insurance during the 2025 Legislative Session, which begins on January 21.

Our team recently met with Oregon’s Insurance Commissioner to discuss how to address rising insurance costs without disincentivizing insurers to continue conducting business in the state, as we have seen occur in California in recent years. We are planning to meet with the Commissioner and his team again in the coming weeks to continue the conversation and discuss bills introduced this legislative session related to the topic of insurance.

At least eleven (11) bills have been introduced to date related to insurance, as well as many other bills related to disaster preparedness and response. Members of our Government Affairs Key Committee along with Oregon REALTORS® staff and lobbyists are reviewing these bills to determine our positions on each. We expect that one or more of bills related to insurance will pass this session and we will be diligent in our efforts to ensure the best outcomes from the proposed legislation.

The frequency, intensity, and duration of wildfire is a growing issue across the American west, and Oregon is no exception. We have seen in recent days how wildfire impacts people from all walks of life, whether urban or rural, as demonstrated by the horrendous fires in Los Angeles. Our hearts go out to those impacted by these fires and to the whole LA community. If you are willing and able, you can learn more about how to help the victims of the LA fires here.

Oregon REALTORS® will continue to keep our members updated on the progress of these issues throughout the legislative session and beyond via our Advocacy Minute videos, Legal Weekly and Advocacy Review newsletters, and more.