The Oregon Department of Forestry is straining both its staff and its budget to withstand more grueling wildfire seasons, according to a state audit released Tuesday.
Last year, fires burned roughly 55,000 acres in the ODF Northeast Oregon District alone — nearly twice as much as any other year since 1960. Yet the audit, prepared by the Secretary of State’s Office, revealed the agency as a whole is still fighting blazes with the same number of full-time employees as 20 years ago.
As a result, ODF is spending more time on fires and less time on other programs, including restoration and timber sales. Overtime hours spent on fire protection increased 197 percent, and staff in Salem have reported they’re feeling overworked and fatigued.
“As fire seasons lengthen and intensify, ODF needs long-term workforce planning to address its firefighting and fire-prevention missions, while still maintaining broader forest management responsibilities,” said Secretary of State Jeanne Atkins in a prepared statement.
Fires also have created a backlog of administrative work as ODF files insurance claims and emergency requests from federal agencies. Some claims have not been completely processed, and the audit shows ODF has paid $1.5 million in interest on loans to bridge fire funding.
Non-fire programs also contribute to the firefighting effort within ODF, which is absorbed into their budgets. The last three fire seasons have delayed the department’s other work, including planning and management to make the forests more fire-resilient.
“It is understandable how other core missions of the agency could suffer when the priority each summer shifts to fighting raging wildfires and protecting Oregonians,” Atkins said.
The ODF Northeast Oregon District is responsible for protecting 1.9 million acres of state and private land in Umatilla, Union, Wallowa and Baker counties, as well as small portions of Morrow, Grant and Malheur counties.
John Buckman, district forester, said he has about 25 permanent staff, which has remained mostly flat over the years. The district also hires roughly 50 seasonal firefighters.
Prior to the 2015 season, the 10-year average for acres burned within the district was 2,500. When fire season gets busy, Buckman said all foresters chip in on suppression efforts, but the work doesn’t end there. They also help private landowners with salvage logging and replanting trees after the fires are contained.
Those were big jobs a year ago on the 82,659-acre Grizzly Bear Complex, and 103,887-acre Cornet-Windy Ridge Fire, Buckman said.
“They’re working very hard, managing their normal day-to-day jobs and, in particular, during the fire season,” he said.
Buckman said the season has been less severe so far this year, and they hope to get back to a normal routine. The Northeast Oregon District declared fire season June 28, and so far have seen 31 fires burning a total of 834 acres.
Buckman wouldn’t say whether he thought longer, hotter fire seasons represented a new normal. He commended his staff, calling them a “can-do bunch.” However, State Forester Doug Decker agreed with the conclusion and recommendations in the state’s audit, and said they are committed to improving their practices in a letter he sent to auditors.
Among those recommendations:
• Tracking costs, staffing, funding and workload impacts on non-fire programs during fire seasons.
• Track data on strategies to prevent catastrophic wildfires.
• Develop a systematic workforce planning strategy to ensure the agency can meet future needs.
