5 FOCUS - FALL 2024 that more accurately captures the science behind the map and how to interpret it. The OSU team, along with five other state agencies and groups, also embarked on a comprehensive public engagement effort to provide information about the draft maps and how they’ll be used by state agencies, and to address concerns about how community wildfire disasters across the West are affecting Oregon’s insurance market. Looking to the Future As a dynamic tool, Oregon’s wildfire hazard map will continue to be updated every five years based on current data, best available science and policy direction to support statewide strategic community wildfire programs. By engaging with policymakers and the public, OSU scientists gained firsthand scientific knowledge, learned from practitioners’ experience, and found gaps in public outreach and engagement processes fostering new and nontraditional partnerships and collaborations to address some of Oregon’s most pressing needs. “Our efforts here in Oregon have demonstrated the challenge, but also the importance of leveraging science to inform policy decisions,” said Chris Dunn, a College of Forestry assistant professor of wildfire risk science. “It will be a big help in Oregon as well as other Western states grappling with increasing community wildfire risk.” Learn more about the map at beav.es/pft. Who was involved? Led by the College of Forestry, the OSU research team included experts in: • Wildfire risk science: Assistant Professor Christopher Dunn and Andy McEvoy • Rural economic development and social vulnerability: Associate Professor Mindy Crandall and Caitlyn Reilley • Community combustion and impacts: Professor Erica Fischer • Communication, project coordination and public interface: Shannon Murray and Myrica McCune External agency collaborators included Oregon Department of Forestry, Oregon State Fire Marshal and Department of Consumer and Business Services. How was wildfire hazard calculated? To create the wildfire hazard map, OSU researchers combined two primary datasets: (1) burn probability, the average annual likelihood a location will experience wildfire, and (2) fire intensity, measured in flame length. Both were modeled across Oregon using the best available science with the help of state and local fire professionals using four criteria: climate, weather, topography and vegetation. HAZARD Photo: Emily Jane “EJ” Davis
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