Baker County encouraging landowners to appeal Wildfire Hazard Map data

BAKER COUNTY – (Release from Baker County) Baker County property owners are urged to appeal on behalf of your tax lot if you received notice that your property has been identified as WUI/High on the ODF Wildfire Hazard Maps.

 The appeal form is one page, and it needs to be submitted by March 10.  Your Baker County Commissioners are in favor of the action taking place at the county and state levels and the more appeals submitted means that we have a greater chance at a repeal. You may not have another opportunity to appeal until the maps are revised again which could be 2030.

Wildfire Maps: From Representative Owens

Last week, the House and Senate Republicans met to repeal the statewide wildfire risk maps. When the first version of the maps came out in 2022, they were not correct. Senator Findley and Representative Owens had invited multiple agencies to visit our counties, stand in meadows and pivot areas and help us learn why these were designated high risk on the map. They promised to work through this, but the next version of maps are still wrong. They are devaluing property, creating unnecessary concerns about home hardening, and not giving credit to the work that has been done.

“I believe we have bipartisan support this session to get these maps repealed.”

Appealing designation of hazard zone or wildland-urban interface The appeal process is a two-step process:

STEP 1: Those who wish to appeal should submit the appeal form by March 10. For this first step no attorney is required.  Simply fill out the form to the best of one’s ability and check the box if the appellant intends to hire an attorney for “Step 2”. This step simply ensures those who wish to appeal are in the que.

STEP 2: Following March 10, ODF would initiate progressive referral of the received appeals to the Office of Administrative Hearings, where a hearing with an administrative law judge would be scheduled.

Helpful links for the above steps and information:

Oregon Statewide Wildfire Hazard Map (this may take a moment to load)
PDF Appeal Form
Appeal FAQ
Notification Packet (this was mailed to property owners)
Map Technical Guide
Creating Defensible Space
Wildfire Hazard Mitigation
Wildfire Insurance Resources

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