The Woodsman: Oregon Bill Aims to Lower Wildfire Insurance Premiums

By Steve Wilent For The Mountain Times

I’ve written several columns about the state’s wildfire risk map and the importance of creating defensible space that gives your home a better chance of surviving a wildfire. I’ll spare you another haranguing and simply remind you that Hoodland Fire District’s web site has a wealth of information on the topic. Go to hoodlandfire.us, click on Prevention, then on Wildfire Information, and select Defensible Space. 

The Oregon legislature took two important steps on defensible space in recent months: first, it repealed the state’s controversial wildfire risk map and regulations. Some property owners objected to being forced to create defensible space. I understand that — many people saw it as government overreach. However, as I argued in a March Substack post (tinyurl.com/38b85s5s), the wildfire risk map didn’t go far enough: homes on moderate and even low risk properties are still vulnerable to wildfire. This applies to every home and building in our area, including downtown Sandy, Estacada, even Gresham.

Just ask the owners of the 56 homes destroyed in June by the Rowena Fire about the importance of defensible space. Ask their neighbors, too, about whether defensible space saved their homes. A Wikipedia entry for the fire notes that the blaze near The Dalles “was fueled by record-low fuel moistures and strong, gusty winds around 30 miles (48 km) per hour.” We on the west side of the Cascades are sheltered from the near-constant Gorge winds, but now and then we have strong east winds that fan small fires into conflagrations like the 2020 Riverside fire. See my March 2025 column, “LA Wildfires Remind Us of Fire Danger Here.”

Our legislature also passed a bill, known as Senate Bill 85, which “requires the Department of Consumer and Business Services (DCBS) and the Department of the State Fire Marshal (OSFM), in collaboration with the Department of Forestry (ODF) and insurance industry representatives, to evaluate and develop community-based wildfire risk mitigation strategies to reduce wildfire risks and improve insurance affordability in Oregon,” according to a legislative summary. That may include “insurance discounts or incentives for consumers who complete wildfire risk mitigation actions, programs, or strategies.”

I think carrots will be more effective than sticks in getting property owners to take action to safeguard their homes and land. Kudos to our state senator, Daniel Bonham (R-The Dalles), for voting for the bill. Only one legislator voted against the bill: Rep. Jami Cate (R-Lebanon). Rep. Jeffrey Helfrich (R-Hood River) did not vote on the bill.

I had hoped that the legislature would provide significant funding for wildfire mitigation projects throughout the state, including grants to AntFarm Youth Services’ Community Wildfire Defense Program, which conducts home assessments and fuels removal at low or no cost. (full disclosure: I’ve worked for AntFarm for nearly a year. I’m now on unpaid leave until funding is available.)

After a great deal of political wrangling, the legislature approved a tax on nicotine pouches as a mechanism for raising money for wildfire mitigation statewide. The tax is projected to raise about $45 million in the next two years. Lawmakers also voted to divert 20 percent of the interest on Oregon’s rainy day savings account to wildfire mitigation. 

I had hoped the legislature would provide a far greater amount for wildfire mitigation projects, but $45 million is better than nothing. And I don’t think it’s fair to tax nicotine pouch users in this way. Wildfire mitigation costs ought to be borne by all citizens of Oregon, since wildfires affect all of us. 

What’s a nicotine pouch? I had to look it up. It’s a small packet of nicotine that, like smokeless tobacco products such as snuff and snus, is placed between your cheek and gum; the nicotine is absorbed through the gum. The pouches come in a variety of flavors, such as mint, cinnamon, coffee, and various fruit flavors. For me, a morning cup of brewed coffee gives me all the buzz I need.

By the way, I mentioned Cottonwood Canyon State Park in last months’ column, it being one of six Oregon International Dark Sky Places. In June, a fire swept through parts of the park. According to The Oregonian, “All of the park’s buildings, including the historic barn, the experience center, and the cabins, survived the fire… the campground was spared, except for the hiker/biker sites, which burned. Flames also destroyed a few shade structures, some picnic tables and some fencing, as well as plastic irrigation pipes that melted in the heat of the fire, but by and large, the park survived.”

And of course the stars shine at night above Cottonwood Canyon as always.

I’m glad the hiker/biker campsites burned. They were crude and needed to be renovated and enlarged. 

Want to know more about preparing your home for wildfire? Know which location was the first International Dark Sky Place in the world? Let me know. Email: SWilent@gmail.com.