Prescribed fires: Setting the forest on fire (but carefully)

The Jefferson Exchange

FILE: A member of the Wolf Creek Hotshots uses a drip torch to ignite the forest floor during a prescribed burn near Sisters, Oregon, in 2018.(Jes Burns / OPB/EarthFix )

Joining the Exchange is State representative Pam Marsh. She championed a new Prescribed Fire Liability Program to address the insurance concerns.

Reintroduction of fire to Oregon’s landscapes is essential to improve forest health and ecosystem function, and to increase resilience to wildfire. Landowners, nonpublic entities, and cultural fire practitioners are seeking to increase the use of prescribed fires to accomplish these objectives.

But the lack or affordability of insurance, and concerns about liability and responsibility for payment of suppression costs, or for material damages resulting from escaped prescribed fire are major barriers.

Because prescribed fire is recognized as an essential and necessary tool to address the threats of catastrophic wildfire in Oregon, intervention from the state can help address concerns and remove barriers for increased use of prescribed fire.