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To contact me, please click here: Rep.MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov
Dear Friends,
My thoughts and prayers continue to go out to our communities. While some fires are contained, others are still raging, and all have left a path of devastation, loss of homes, businesses, and livelihoods. If you are directly affected and need assistance please reach out to my office, we can put you in contact with a disaster case manager or help connect you to the right person.
Below I have provided a multitude of resources from various federal and state agencies and programs. My office has been collecting resources for you to download or view here, most of these resources are also noted below.
Be safe,
Table of Contents
 Office of Resilience and Emergency Management (OREM) within the Oregon Department of Human Services Office (ODHS) works with partners across the state to help people in Oregon during emergencies. If you have been impacted by Oregon Wildfires and have unmet needs, please see the steps below.
Actions survivors can take to request a disaster case manager to support their recovery:
- Sign up online at uniteus.com/oregonwildfires.
- Call 1-833-669-0554. The line is open every day, 24/7. Interpreters are available.
- For urgent needs please dial 211.
Disaster Case Managers
The disaster case manager works with the survivor and their family, to identify their specific barriers to recovery and supports them on their journey. Supports can range from assisting survivors in replacing lost documentation and connecting them to available local resources to creating customized plans and navigating more complex long-term recovery needs. These may include securing financial assistance, rebuilding or replacing their homes, and accessing medical and mental health services.
Impact assessment
You may be familiar with damage assessments. Those look at the amount and types of damage to buildings, roads, etc.
Impact assessments go beyond the damage assessment to understand how the disaster impacted people, their families, their homes, their livelihoods, etc. Information from the impact assessment is used by the survivor and disaster case manager to determine the barriers to recovery that need to be met. The impact assessment is a crucial building block of our disaster case management service to support people into recovery.
In agreement with the Oregon Department of Emergency Management, OREM is conducting impact assessments with wildfire survivors. In addition to helping survivors, our ability to conduct quality impact assessments will make us better prepared to report aggregated information about survivors to decisionmakers.
 USDA offers a variety of programs to help farmers, ranchers, communities, and businesses that have been hard hit by natural disaster events. Below you’ll find available FSA programs; visit farmers.gov for additional USDA programs that can help agricultural producers recover.
Disaster Assistance Discovery Tool
Download the Program Flyer
Livestock Assistance
Livestock Forage Disaster Program (LFP) provides compensation to eligible livestock producers who have suffered grazing losses due to drought or fire on land that is native or improved pastureland with permanent vegetative cover or that is planted specifically for grazing. Learn more about LFP.
Livestock Indemnity Program (LIP) provides benefits to livestock producers for livestock deaths in excess of normal mortality caused by adverse weather or by attacks by animals reintroduced into the wild by the federal government. Learn more about LIP.
Emergency Assistance for Livestock, Honeybees, and Farm-Raised Fish (ELAP) provides emergency assistance to eligible producers of livestock, honeybees and farm-raised fish for losses due to disease (including cattle tick fever), adverse weather, or other conditions, such as blizzards and wildfires, not covered by LFP and LIP. Learn more about ELAP.
Emergency Livestock Relief Program (ELRP) – provides livestock producers, who have approved applications through the 2021 Livestock Forage Disaster Program for forage losses due to severe drought or wildfire, emergency relief payments to compensate for increases in supplemental feed costs. No producer applications required.
Farm Loans
Emergency Loan Program provides loans to help producers recover from production and physical losses due to drought, flooding, other natural disasters, or quarantine by animal quarantine laws or imposed by the Secretary under the Plant Protection Act.
Disaster Set-Aside Program provides producers who have existing direct loans with FSA who are unable to make the scheduled payments to move up to one full year’s payment to the end of the loan. Assistance is available in counties, or contiguous counties, who have been designated as emergencies by the President, Secretary or FSA Administrator.
Farmland damage
Emergency Conservation Program (ECP) helps farmers and ranchers repair damage to farmlands caused by natural disasters and helps put in place water conservation methods during severe drought. Learn more about ECP.
Emergency Forest Restoration Program (EFRP) helps owners of non-industrial private forests restore forest health damaged by natural disasters. Learn more about EFRP.
Crop Losses
Noninsured Disaster Assistance Program (NAP) pays covered producers of covered noninsurable crops when low yields, loss of inventory, or prevented planting occur due to natural disasters (includes native grass for grazing). Eligible producers must have purchased NAP coverage for the current crop year. Learn more about NAP.
Tree Assistance Program (TAP) provides financial assistance to qualifying orchardists and nursery tree growers to replant or rehabilitate eligible trees, bushes, and vines damaged by natural disasters. Learn more about TAP.
USDA NRCS
For longer term management needs, contact the USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) field office in your county to explore current funding/technical support available and inform future program offerings in your county. Click here or call your local service center: View County Contacts.
Please use this form to indicate a need for hay or other livestock feed as we recover from wildfires that have impacted eastern Oregon in the summer wildfires of 2024. As donation pledges are received, Oregon State University Extension staff will match identified needs with available donations.
Post-fire resources for eastern Oregon livestock and agricultural producers (PDF download)
Recovery resources
Oregon's Office of Emergency Management has compiled a library of recovery resources with information from multiple agencies to help residents during and after a fire.
This library includes support for
N95 mask distribution
OSU Extension is working with the State of Oregon's Office of Resilience and Emergency Management to distribute N95 masks to communities affected by wildfires.
Pallets of N95 masks are being delivered to OSU locations in the following counties the week of August 12: Baker, Harney, Hood River, Grant, Malheur, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa
OSU will coordinate with local partners for distribution. Plans will be announced locally, and shared on this page when known.
Ag disaster relief resource computers
Located at OSU Extension Service offices around the state, these resource computers are available to producers for greater access to federal/state relief programs. Find your local extension office.
Hay/grain needs and donations
OSU Extension is partnering with state and local efforts to coordinate hay, grain, and monetary donations. We will also help coordinate the transportation of donations to the affected areas in partnership with Oregon Cattlemen's Association.
If you need hay/grain
- Let us know in this form.
- Contact info will not be made public, and will be shared only to the extent needed to support coordination of donations.
If you can offer hay/grain or transportation
At this time, we are seeking pledges for hay, grain, or help with transportation of goods to neighboring counties.
Agriculture can be stressful, but you are not alone.
Agriculture is an occupation full of potential stressors like weather, changing economic markets, animal health and machinery breakdowns. When these start to compound, many farmers experience excessive amounts of stress, making it hard to remain positive and move forward through the hard times.
Due in part to the stresses that are faced, agricultural workers have high rates of suicide. If you or someone you know is experiencing excessive stress or thoughts of suicide, please reach out to a confidential crisis support line.
OSU and the Farm and Ranch Stress Assistance Network is not a crisis center. If you are in need of immediate assistance, reach out to the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988 or 1-800-273-8255 or the AgriStress Helpline at 833-897-2474
Oregon Wildfire Response & Recovery website provides guidance on topics that include:
Disaster Preparedness is not only important for the people in your household, but also important for your pets and livestock too. Most people consider animals to be important members of the family and creating a plan that includes them can be an important first step in disaster readiness. Including your animals in your family emergency disaster evacuation plan may involve plans for family or friends to care for your animals, creating a list of animal friendly shelters/hotel options, and ensuring your animals have proper identification such as identification tags and/or microchips.
Building an emergency supply kit for your animals, that is ready to grab in case of an emergency, will help you be prepared.
- For companion animals, this kit should include necessities like fresh food, water, medicine, a carrier, sanitation and grooming items, collar/harness with ID tag and leash, or other important items.
- For livestock an emergency supply kit will include specialized supplies such as rope/lariat, halters/leads, cleaning supplies, veterinary records, and proof of ownership. It is important to also consider transportation and housing options for livestock during an evacuation.
Capitol Phone: 503-986-1460
Capitol Address: 900 Court St NE, H-475, Salem, OR 97301
Capitol Email: Rep.MarkOwens@oregonlegislature.gov
Capitol Website: http://www.oregonlegislature.gov/owens
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