LCDC Adopts Rules to Assist Individuals Displaced by Wildfire

New provisions enable counties to approve temporary sheltering facilities on rural lands.

Salem - On July 22, the Oregon Land Conservation and Development Commission (LCDC) adopted revisions to a series of administrative rules pertaining to rural lands outside of cities. The new rules create opportunities for counties outside cities to approve short term and interim sheltering solutions for individuals who have lost their homes or been otherwise displaced by wildfires. These uses are already allowed in urban areas.

Sheltering opportunities include temporary campgrounds, temporary residences, and other facilities utilizing temporary manufactured home or trailer placement. Opportunities for staging non-hazardous debris or construction equipment and materials needed for wildfire recovery efforts are also included.

Work on this subject began as temporary rules in October of 2020 responding to the devastating Labor Day fires of 2020 wildfires. Early arrival of the 2021 wildfire season made refinement of the temporary rules and codifying them as permanent opportunities a high priority for the state’s land use program. LCDC’s work on these rules have been guided by three essential principles:

1. Help Oregonians.
2. Enable those displace by wildfire to stay in or near their community during their time of need.
3. Provide local government a swift and efficient pathway for approving needed shelter.

At the adoption hearing, LCDC Commissioner Nick Lelack of Deschutes County commented, “The thing that is really great about the way that these rules are written, is that they take into account communities like mine, where fire risk might be high everywhere. They offer a path toward providing shelter that will work for everyone.”

“The commission put a great deal of thought into these rules,” said Commission Chair Robin McArthur. “Given the urgency of addressing wildfire, this was critical action for the Commission. The adopted rules provide some relief and certainty for impacted Oregonians.”

DLCD staff continues to work on wildfire related issues in conjunction with a number of state agencies, including the Oregon Department of Forestry and the Office of Emergency Management.

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The mission and vision of Oregon's statewide natural hazards mitigation planning program are to create a disaster-resilient state of Oregon such that natural hazard events result in no loss of life, minimal property damage, and limited long-term impacts to the economy. The purpose of Statewide Planning Goal 7 is similarly, to protect people and property from natural hazards.

Oregon's wide stretches of forest can be at risk of wildfire, especially during dry summer and fall months. In planning to reduce the risks from wildfires, counties have taken steps to address wildfire issues. Jurisdictions should include wildfire in their local Natural Hazards Mitigation Plans (NHMPs) and should also prepare Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs). In addition to enhancing safety and reducing risk to human structures and watersheds, communities with CWPPs are given priority for U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management funding for hazardous fuels reduction projects as authorized under the Healthy Forest Restoration Act of 2003.

Additional information on the commission and their work is available on the DLCD Commission website: https://www.oregon.gov/lcd/Commission/Pages/index.aspx