August 6, 2024 9:30 a.m.

On Friday, Oregon’s entire Congressional delegation – U.S. Senators Jeff Merkley and Ron Wyden, alongside U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Susanne Bonamici, Val Hoyle, Andres Salinas, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Cliff Bentz – sent a letter to U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack urging approval of Oregon Governor Tina Kotek’s request for a disaster declaration for Oregon counties facing devastating wildfires.

A release said the lawmakers also strongly support the Governor’s additional requests for the U.S. Department of Agriculture to open up more federal resources targeted to support impacted agricultural communities throughout the state.

The lawmakers wrote, “As climate chaos continues to worsen – turning fire seasons into fire years that see millions of acres scorched and countless lives forever changed – we must make sure communities can access the federal resources they need to equitably recover from these increasingly devastating fires”.

The release said Oregon’s wildfire season has already decimated communities throughout eastern Oregon as the state deals with five confirmed “megafires” – the Durkee, Cow Valley, Falls, Lone Rock, and Monkey Creek fires – that have all started in July alone. With approximately 112 fires currently burning across Oregon that have scorched over 1.2 million acres, the lawmakers believe it is imperative that the USDA continues to build upon the partnerships, collaboration, and respect between agency fire crews, community leaders, as well as staff and volunteers, as this fire season progresses.

The full text of the Oregon delegation’s letter is linked: 24.08.01-LTR-USDA-Disaster-Declaration-for-Wildfires.pdf (senate.gov)