NEWS UPDATE FROM STATE REPRESENTATIVE DAVID GOMBERG 7/29/24: Oregon is On Fire

The Durkee Fire in Baker and Malheur counties has caused intermittent closures of Interstate 84 in eastern Oregon. Durkee is one of the biggest fires burning in the United States. As of Thursday morning, the fire was reported to be at least 270,000 acres and is 0% contained.

You can follow the fire season here in Oregon on the ODF Wildfire Blog and the Oregon State Fire Marshal blog. For news about Oregon and the entire Pacific Northwest, check out the Northwest Interagency Coordination Center blog, All three are updated each day.

Even when there is not a wildfire nearby, your region may be experiencing smoky conditions. You can track smoke reports at Oregon Smoke.

• Oregon Alert will direct you to your local alert system and you can sign up for alerts.
• Trip Check has road closures and conditions.
• Oregon Smoke Information has the current air quality conditions.
• The state’s fire dashboard gives an overview of the situation.
• The Northwest Interagency Coordination Center has the latest information about fires in the region.

Hotter, drier conditions are the primary reason for this intensity.

The Governor provided a briefing for reporters on Friday. Here’s reporting from OPB. Legislators also receive weekly briefings from the Governor’s Wildfire director and the State Fire Marshal.

Although most of the new starts are now weather-related, a troubling number remain human-caused, the result of carelessness. Campfires are now prohibited in state and federal campgrounds. Our firefighters are working hard and risking their lives to contain these fires, but they can’t do it alone. All of us must step up and focus on prevention.

Last year, Oregon was successful in mobilizing quickly, confronting fires before they could grow, and keeping the number of acres burned relatively low. This year, the number of fires, hot dry conditions, and the location of eruptions created a much different scenario.

On the east side of the state — where Oregon’s largest fires are burning — the situation is only slightly improved.

Here along the coast and across the coast range, we are not immune to fire threats. As regular readers know, my own neighborhood was devastated in 2020 with a third of the homes here destroyed. We are still slowly recovering.

The threat of wildfires and extreme weather can cause planned power shutdowns, with electric utilities turning off power to avoid sparking a wildfire. That’s something Pacific Power didn’t do in Oregon over Labor Day in 2020. The company now has to pay about $300 million to victims and timber companies, while one suit seeks $30 billion in damages.

The good thing about a planned outage is that you are notified in advance rather than having lights go out without warning.

To prepare for a planned or unplanned outage, gather food, water, medication, pet supplies, first aid kits and other things you might need before an extreme weather event. State officials recommend assembling a two-week supply of essentials.

It’s also a good idea to check on your elderly neighbors and anyone who might need special assistance during an outage. To report an outage, call your provider – not 911.

The Act also gives consumers control over how businesses use their personal data. It guarantees Oregonians affirmative rights to manage and safeguard their personal data.

Several of you wrote to ask how it all works.

Any business covered by Oregon’s privacy law must now provide customers with a reasonably accessible privacy notice about how you can contact the business to learn whether they collect, use, or store your personal information. For the most part, these privacy notices can be found on the business’s website (usually at the bottom of the homepage). For mobile apps, a link is typically included on the download page for the app or in the app’s settings menu. Again, these privacy notices must provide clear instructions on how you can exercise your privacy rights.

If you own a small business, are you subject to these requirements?

OCPA covers businesses that collect and use information from more than 100,000 Oregonians or make at least 25% of their gross revenue from selling data. It applies to businesses located in Oregon and businesses located outside of Oregon that provide their goods and services to Oregon residents.

For millennia, underwater forests of seaweed or large brown algae stretched from the seafloor to the ocean’s surface, forming canopies, much like trees, and providing food, shelter and hunting grounds to countless animals. Bull kelp, the predominant species found along the southern third of Oregon shores, is one of the world’s fastest growers – rising at a rate of up to 10 inches per day and reaching heights of up to about 100 feet, establishing itself as the sequoia of the seas. Kelp has helped protect the coastline from storms and supported local fisheries, tribal fishing and cultural practices.

But Oregon’s kelp canopy declined by more than two-thirds between 2010 and 2022. Nearly 900 acres of kelp canopy disappeared during that time, the equivalent of 680 football fields.

Until recently, healthy bull kelp forests such as this one were common in near-shore waters along the Oregon coast.

Our cold waters are getting warmer. A heat wave in the Pacific Ocean in 2014 raised temperatures between 4 and 10 degrees above average. That change contributed to a mysterious illness that began to decimate sunflower sea stars. The sea stars are the only predator of purple sea urchins. And the urchin population exploded as sunflower sea stars died off. The small, spiky orbs have been feasting on kelp like never before. The research found a statistically significant relationship between kelp density and purple urchin density – the more purple urchins, the less kelp.

The 900 acres of lost kelp canopy is costing Oregon an estimated $23 million to $53 million every year. This includes the value of shrinking local fisheries as well as the ocean’s lessened ability to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Underwater kelp forests are key to combating climate change – they can sequester up to 20 times more carbon per acre than land forests.

Researchers are searching for ways to restore Oregon’s kelp forests. Over the past five years, the Kelp Alliance has secured more than $4 million in federal, state and private funding to conduct a coast-wide survey of kelp. They have launched several scientific research and restoration projects aimed at saving kelp habitat, controlling purple urchins and bringing back sunflower sea stars.

Later this summer, the group will publish a kelp status report and a comprehensive restoration plan that aims to rehabilitate Oregon’s underwater forests. Learn more here.

We both laughed because the building is almost entirely closed. “I stand out on the sidewalk and point,” she said. “That’s where the Senate chamber is. Over there is where the House might eventually meet. And the governor’s official office is there behind the scaffolding but she has moved across the street…”.

For more than two years, most of the Oregon Capitol has been closed to the public as hundreds of construction workers retrofit the historic building to withstand earthquakes. It’s a $598 million project that won’t be completed until 2026, with the building reopening fully in 2025 when the legislative session begins.

The Capital Chronicle went beyond the construction barriers to watch the work in progress this week and published a fascinating photo expository on the project and the science of earthquake resilience. Well, I thought it was fascinating. Read more here.

The 3% gross receipts tax would apply to all sales by firms grossing over $25 million annually. Remember that the sales tax we are familiar with in Washington and California only applies to the final retail sale of products, and not to purchases of wholesale products, materials or services.

Sharing a laugh with the Chamber and a smile with Commissioner Kaety Jacobson.

The Fishermen’s Wives help preserve our past and protect our future. They maintain the Fisherman’s Memorial Sanctuary, support fishing families in need, and award local scholarships. I have been pleased to ally with the group, advocating for the preservation of a Coast Guard helicopter station in Newport (click here to see my community remarks as the situation unfolded) and the responsible development of offshore wind that does not harm the fishing fleet.

Highlights next week include a meeting with the AFL-CIO, a conversation with the US Forest Service about re-opening road access to Cascade Head, a meeting with Oregon teachers, dinner with Senator Weber of the North Coast, the monthly Coastal Caucus meeting, and a Town Hall with Senator Merkley at the Hatfield Center on Friday at 10 am.

Here is a final reminder to respect burn and campfire bans and please be cautious with anything that has an open flame or can spark.

email: Rep.DavidGomberg@oregonlegislature.govphone: 503-986-1410address: 900 Court St NE, H-480, Salem, OR, 97301website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/gomberg