State Legislature Approves Repeal of Wildfire Map

After continuous calls for a repeal of the statewide wildfire hazard map, the Oregon legislature this week passed Senate Bill 83, which does away with the map and its building code mandates, while directing state agencies to develop new model defensible space standards.

The bill passed 50-1 in the Oregon House, following a Senate approval in April. It now heads to Gov. Tina Kotek’s desk for final signature.

The map, which came out of Senate Bill 762, classifies lots as low-, moderate- or high-hazard zones to educate residents about the wildfire risk in their areas while prioritizing mitigation resources. The map also aims to identify where defensible space and home hardening codes may one day apply.

Earlier this year, concerns about the finalized wildfire hazard map started to gain momentum. Legislators called for a repeal of the map, citing community frustrations. State lawmakers said they hoped to find solutions that balanced the need for fire mitigation strategies, while attempting to alleviate concerns from those whose properties were in “high-hazard” zones.

Local lawmakers have voiced support for a repeal of the map, helping to advance SB 83 to the finish line.

On June 23, Central Oregon Rep. Emerson Levy (D-OR 53), made a motion to pull SB 83 from the House Committee on Rules – where the bill had been sitting since May 28 following the unanimous Senate vote on April 22.

“SB 83 returns control back to our communities. The 2025 Legislative Session is over in six days, and I need to go back to my community knowing I did everything I could to protect our community from wildfire risks. Repealing the wildfire maps is an important step in advancing our conversation about wildfire safety in this state,” Levy wrote in a press release.

“I urge my colleagues to recognize the regional benefits of SB 83 and pass this common-sense bill when it comes before them for a vote,” said Levy.

In late February, Sen. Anthony Broadman, (D-OR 27), who represents Central Oregon, called for a full repeal of the map, declaring it a distraction from the work the community is already doing on fuels reduction, community hardening and preparation for the fire season.

“I’m a strong believer in the majority of SB 762. [It] has a recipe for mitigation, community hardening and it’s going to work, but the maps were clearly a distraction from 90% of SB 762 that is making our community safer,” Broadman told the Source Weekly in March.

In Deschutes County alone, there are 21,258 lots classified as high hazard.

When the map was first published in 2022, homeowners across the state worried about its role in increasing insurance premiums. In 2023, the state legislature passed a bill that made it illegal for insurance companies to use the maps for decisions about premiums and coverage.

However, when the Oregon Department of Forestry released the final version of the maps on Jan. 7, those concerns remained. While the state maintains that insurers create their own risk models and maps based on property risk, Central Oregonians continued to report significant premium increases and even coverage retractions in certain areas.

While Broadman saw the need to prepare for the fire season, he said in March that eliminating the maps from the equation could help the state better focus on the budget for fire mitigation work.

“My hope is that we can move quickly to excise the maps from this discussion, again, surgically, so that we can focus on the good work that we’ve already accomplished, and a lot of the work we need to do moving forward to harden communities and make sure we’re fire resilient.”

This article appears in Source Weekly June 26, 2025.