THE DALLES, Ore. — Wasco County has been designated as “very high risk” for wildfire, placing it in the 95th to 100th percentile of wildfire risk among U.S. communities.
Because of this, Kayla Bordelon, the Oregon State University Extension Service regional fire specialist for the Willamette Valley and North Cascades, made Wasco County a top priority.
“We will have a really good sense of exactly what needs to be done and where. That makes us more competitive for federal and state dollars."
Bordelon and local and regional partners were awarded nearly $6 million through the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, which includes $1.5 billion nationally for wildfire resilience and wildland firefighting.
“Building this funding proposal was definitely a labor of love for the handful of us on the grant writing team,” Bordelon said.
Bordelon is part of OSU Extension’s Fire Program, created in 2019 to support community and landscape wildfire resilience across Oregon. She joined the team in 2022 after completing a Ph.D. in environmental science with a focus on fire education at the University of Idaho.
A major portion of the funding will establish a full-time countywide wildfire coordinator.
“One of my long-term goals is to build local capacity to coordinate wildfire resilience efforts in the nine counties I serve,” she said. “My number one priority for this grant was funding this county coordinator position. Investing in people allows us to do more work together.”
Countywide projects and fuels assessment
The remaining funds will go to sub-awardees including the Wasco County Planning Department, the Oregon Department of Forestry and OSU Extension. Projects include:
- Creating defensible space around homes.
- Clearing roadside vegetation that can spark or carry wildfire.
OSU Extension will lead a fuels and forest health assessment on 80,000 acres of private, nonindustrial forestland. (Fuel refers to any burnable material, including grasses, shrubs and trees.)
The assessment will examine species composition, fuel load, tree health and dead-and-down material.
“We can look across this whole landscape and say: Wow, we have this many acres of forestland that are high priority for restoration,” Bordelon said.
Because detailed information on private lands is rare, the assessment will help landowners make management decisions and help partners compete for funding.
“We will have a really good sense of exactly what needs to be done and where,” Bordelon said. “That makes us more competitive for federal and state dollars.
Community support and next steps
On her first visit to southern Wasco County, Bordelon attended a community fire resiliency meeting in Wamic — population 52. More than 100 people showed up.
“I was very heartened by the engagement,” she said.
Bordelon hopes to secure similar grants for other counties she serves. Wasco County’s risk level made it a clear priority, she said, “but Wasco is also just the beginning.”
Her goal is to strengthen wildfire preparedness across the region.
“In many rural areas, fire departments and wildfire agencies are understaffed or are run by volunteers,” she said. “They don’t always have the capacity to write and manage federal grants. By building a coalition and doing it together, we help everyone out.”
