Oregonians may soon have greater input in how the next statewide budget seeks to mitigate natural disasters.
Gov. Tina Kotek on Wednesday, along with Oregon State University’s Oregon Climate Change Research Institute and the University of Oregon’s Oregon Partnership for Disaster Resilience, launched the first of nine online public meetings of the “Statewide Resilience Forum,” with the goal of collecting feedback on how the state should prepare for wildfires, floods, earthquakes and all manner of natural disasters.
The feedback will inform a “Plan for a Resilient Oregon” slated to be done by September 2026 and disaster preparation funding priorities for the state’s next two-year budget. The next meeting is on Nov. 19 at 1 p.m.
“Oregonians don’t need another plan that sits on a shelf. They need real investment in what makes their communities stronger,” Kotek said in a statement. “The intention behind the Plan for a Resilient Oregon is to hear directly from the people living these challenges every day and to act on what they tell us.”
Beyond inviting the public to participate, Kotek’s office split the state into five regions and selected more than 50 community-based organizations to represent each, and to attend meetings and collect and share feedback from residents. Regional leads for each part of the state will present that feedback at statewide meetings. The groups have experience in issues such as food access, immigrant rights, fire safety and toxic waste prevention.
Attendees at Wednesday’s meeting reviewed other states’ natural disaster preparedness plans, which prioritized equity and environmental justice, solutions like wetland restoration, infrastructure modernization, climate hazards and community engagement, according to agenda notes.
The virtual meetings offer what Kotek’s office described as a “people-centered, resilience and multi-hazard strategy” to help Oregon communities thrive despite increasingly severe weather events.
Between 1980 and 2024, Oregon experienced more than 40 “billion-dollar weather and climate disasters” according to National Centers for Environmental Information data. They include droughts, floods, wildfires, and a few winter storm eventsThis year, for instance, Kotek declared a state of emergency in mid-July over threats from wildfires posed by “extreme high temperatures.”
“The 2020 fires taught us that recovery starts and ends at the local level, but it can’t succeed without strong state partnerships,” said Matthew Havniear, executive director of the Jackson County Community Long-Term Recovery Group, which supports survivors of the 2020 Labor Day fires. Havniear is also representing southern Oregon in the state’s resiliency planning. “For organizations like ours, this plan reinforces local leadership, builds capacity, and emphasizes collaboration and coordination.”
Attend the next virtual meeting at 1 p.m. on Nov. 19 here.
By Shaanth Kodialam Nanguneri of news partner Oregon Capital Chronicle
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