Our comments to DLCD on the Wildfire Adapted Communities Recommendations

As a first step to address wildfire risk and hazards, the 2021 legislature passed Senate Bill 762, a comprehensive wildfire preparedness and resiliency bill. Under the bill, the Department of Land Conservation and Development (DLCD) was tasked with developing recommendations for changes to Oregon’s land use planning rules to make our communities safer from wildfire and adjust Oregon’s land use planning system to the reality of climate change-fueled wildfires. This summer, Rogue Advocates’ Land Use Program Manager, Devin Kesner, participated in a stakeholder group to provide input on DLCD’s recommendations. Rogue Advocates is urging limitations on new development on steep slopes and areas designated as extreme and high hazard and/or within the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), among other measures. Read DLCD’s draft recommendations here, and find our full comments below!