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By Gillian Flaccus

The Associated Press

PORTLAND 鈥� A new map in Oregon that rated the wildfire risk of every tax lot in the state 鈥� labeling nearly 80,000 structures as high-risk 鈥� generated so much pushback from angry homeowners that officials abruptly retracted it, saying they had not done enough local outreach before publicizing the ambitious project.

The rapid reversal, announced Aug. 4, capped weeks of mounting frustration in mostly rural areas as the map emerged as a new flash point for conservatives who call it government overreach and 鈥渃limate change evangelism.鈥�

Oregon State Forester Cal Mukumoto stated that his agency got specific feedback from 2,000 residents about problems with the risk designations that were assigned by the Oregon Explorer project and added that climate scientists would refine the map and reissue a new version later.

The map came out of a $220 million bill passed last year to prepare Oregon for worsening, climate change-fueled wildfires.

鈥淲hile we met the bill鈥檚 initial deadline for delivering on the map, there wasn鈥檛 enough time to allow for the type of local outreach and engagement that people wanted, needed and deserved,鈥� wrote Mukumoto, who reiterated that Oregon is at a critical juncture with wildfires and needs to take bold action. 鈥淲e know how important it is to get this right.鈥�

Fierce opposition bubbled up at community meetings prior to the state鈥檚 step back. Residents and some local officials worried it would lead to insurance rate increases or coverage loss, while others bristled at new mandates for defensible space and rules for future construction that flow from the map鈥檚 designations.

One information session in the conservative southwest corner of the state was canceled after someone threatened violence.

鈥淚鈥檓 sitting in a place here right now where I鈥檓 overlooking several hundred acres that are irrigated, they鈥檙e green year-round and yet they鈥檙e in 鈥榟igh鈥� or 鈥榚xtreme鈥� risk category,鈥� said Brandon Larsen, who spoke during a session that was moved online in Medford. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e never going to burn. This is more about climate change evangelism than it is about actually protecting people from the risks that are out there.鈥�

The Oregon Department of Forestry, which created the risk map with experts from Oregon State University, said the fire policies triggered by the initial map are intended to prevent more catastrophic wildfires 鈥� not make life more difficult for homeowners.

鈥淢any of the comments that we鈥檝e received and much of the concern is around 鈥業鈥檝e already done what I can around my home, so I should be at a lower risk,鈥欌�� ODF spokesman Derek Gasperini said before the map was retracted. 鈥淭his isn鈥檛 a risk assessment of that defensible space. The map is the risk of wildfire occurrence and there are certain things you just can鈥檛 impact. You can鈥檛 affect the weather. You can鈥檛 change the fact that you live in a hot and dry climate.鈥�

With climate change, wildfire risk maps like Oregon鈥檚 are likely to become increasingly common for homeowners, and even those maps will need to be updated frequently to keep up with the changing dynamics of climate change, said Noah Diffenbaugh, a climate scientist at Stanford University.

California, which has long had hazard maps, in 2018 passed a law that requires homeowners in high-risk areas to pass a defensible space inspection before buying or selling the property.

Meanwhile, the population of the U.S. West in the so-called wildland-urban interface 鈥� where development encroaches on natural areas 鈥斅爂rew the fastest in places聽with vegetation that鈥檚 the most sensitive to drought and most vulnerable to fire, Diffenbaugh said.

Oregon is trying to address that challenge with a sweeping bill that was voted into law after a barrage of firestorms across Oregon in September 2020 burned more than 1 million acres and destroyed 4,000 homes, many of them in rural areas.

In addition to assigning tax lots one of five wildfire risk levels, the legislation updated and refined the state鈥檚 25-year-old 鈥渨ildland-urban interface鈥� map that identifies areas where development abuts forests and wild areas, raising wildfire risk. The bill also added funding for 20 new State Fire Marshal positions.

Starting next year, property owners on tax lots designated 鈥渉igh鈥� or 鈥渆xtreme鈥� risk that also fall within the updated wildland-urban interface must comply with minimum defensible space requirements. Those requirements, which are still being decided, could include things such as cutting tree limbs that are less than six feet from the ground, clearing up to 100 feet from the home, and removing trees and branches that overhang roofs and chimneys.

State officials are also creating for future development in these areas a building code that will require things like attic vents, fire-resistant roofing and fire-resistant siding for any construction that requires a permit. Existing homes do not need to be changed.

Those provisions remain.

鈥淚 call it commonsense fire safety, and in all reality a lot of Oregonians are already doing this work or going well beyond this work to keep their homes safe鈥� in these high-risk areas, said Assistant Chief Deputy Chad Hawkins with the Oregon State Fire Marshal.

Grants will be available to homeowners who can鈥檛 afford to clear around their property. Also, when the mandates take effect the state will focus on education, not penalties, Hawkins said.

Still, many homeowners are wary of the mapping project and worry about their insurance coverage and property values.

鈥淎fter looking at this map, you guys have blanketed lots of areas as the same designation and nobody ever came out to our house to designate us high, low or whatever,鈥� Sherry Roberts said of the first version of the map. Her irrigated farm survived the South Obenchain Fire in 2020, she said.

Those who specialize in wildfires and the insurance industry said fears that coverage would be reduced or canceled specifically because of Oregon鈥檚 new risk map were unfounded.

Insurers 鈥渉ave way better maps,鈥� said Michael Wara, director of the Climate Energy Policy Program at Stanford University鈥檚 Woods Institute for the Environment. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e not going to just take the state鈥檚 word on the maps.鈥�