Oregon Gov. Tina Kotek has signed a bill to expand wildfire suppression, mitigation and prevention resources into law.
The state frequently faces wildfire threats to its forested areas, impacting the sustainability of its forest resources and continuous growth of timber. To better preserve these critical areas, House Bill (HB) 3940 establishes the State Forestry Department (SFD) Large Wildfire Fund. The SFD will be able to draw from this fund to support wildfire mitigation and suppression efforts.
The dedicated fund will ensure that Oregon’s firefighting forces will be able to adequately address catastrophic fire incidents when needed. This expedites the availability of resources to make them readily and immediately available rather than only being provided after the fact. As a result, the SFD will reduce reliance on ad-hoc borrowing and delayed reimbursements from third-party vendors.
The law builds on recent investments to secure additional funding for wildfire suppression and mitigation efforts. As part of its passing – alongside HB 5006, Senate Bill (SB) 5521 and SB 5538 – the state has secured $150 million over the next two years for wildfire disasters. Another $117 million has also been sourced to support community prevention and resilience initiatives.
Gov. Kotek recently declared a State of Emergency in response to the imminent wildfire threat, starting July 16 and lasting the remainder of the calendar year. The state has already experienced a flurry of wildfires in 2025 with expectations that the threat will worsen. The increasing demand for fire response has thinned the state’s available resources, making it more challenging to assess, alleviate and resolve statewide incidents.
To further support firefighting efforts, HB 3349 has also been signed into legislation, enabling the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) to donate or sell depreciated firefighting assets to Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPAs). These entities are independent associations of landowners the provide local wildfire protection.
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