{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/oregon-delegation-urges-renewed-commitment-states-wildfire-response-ahead", "Oregon Delegation Urges Renewed Commitment to State\u2019s Wildfire Response Ahead of Deadline", "2024-04-22", "2024", "2024-04", "Democrat", "House", "OR", "Suzanne Bonamici", "B001278", "bonamici.house.gov", "bonamici", "https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases", "scraper", "Washington, D.C. \u2013 Oregon\u2019s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and U.S. Representative Val Hoyle today led U.S. Senator Ron Wyden and U.S. Representatives Earl Blumenauer, Suzanne Bonamici, Andrea Salinas, Lori Chavez-DeRemer, and Cliff Bentz in a letter to Interior Secretary Deb Haaland and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Director Tracy Stone-Manning calling for a renewed long-term commitment to the Western Oregon Operating Plan (WOOP). Set to expire on June 30th of this year, the WOOP serves as the agreement that governs fire response for BLM, the Oregon Department of Forestry, and Forest Protective Associations all over western Oregon.\n\n\u201cAs you know, the checkerboard ownership pattern of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forest lands in western Oregon is unique and creates approximately 14,000 miles of jurisdictional boundaries between federal, tribal, state, county, and private timberlands,\u201d wrote the lawmakers. \u201cThe complexity of managing fires throughout this area led to agreements to provide protection by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and non-profit Forest Protective Associations (FPAs) dating back to at least 1914.\u201d\n\n\u201cThis arrangement has been a model of success and continues to this day as the Western Oregon Operating Plan (WOOP) agreement,\u201d they continued. \u201cThe current iteration of the WOOP is set to expire on June 30, 2024, and BLM, ODF, and the FPAs had been working to secure another agreement to continue their coordination and preparedness. The Fiscal Year 2024 Interior Appropriations bill provides clear direction to BLM to develop a new agreement that \u2018maintains or enhances the current level of fire protection for western Oregon forestlands through the Western Oregon Operating Plan agreement.\u2019\u201d\n\nMerkley serves as Chair of the U.S. Senate Interior Appropriations Subcommittee and has direct oversight of the U.S. Department of the Interior\u2019s budget, which includes BLM. He has secured federal resources for wildfire management and ensured language directing BLM to maintain or enhance the level of protection covered through the WOOP was included in government funding legislation for Fiscal Year 2024.\n\nThe full text of the Oregon delegation\u2019s letter can be found here and below:\n\nSecretary Haaland and Director Stone-Manning:\n\nWe write to urge you to renew the interagency agreement that underpins the Department of Interior\u2019s commitment to the Western Oregon Operation Plan (WOOP), the century-old, effective fire management system in western Oregon, for another five-year term.\n\nAs you know, the checkerboard ownership pattern of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forest lands in western Oregon is unique and creates approximately 14,000 miles of jurisdictional boundaries between federal, tribal, state, county, and private timberlands. The complexity of managing fires throughout this area led to agreements to provide protection by the Oregon Department of Forestry (ODF) and non-profit Forest Protective Associations (FPAs) dating back to at least 1914.\n\nThis arrangement has been a model of success and continues to this day as the Western Oregon Operating Plan (WOOP)agreement. The current iteration of the WOOP is set to expire on June 30, 2024, and BLM, ODF, and the FPAs had been working to secure another agreement to continue their coordination and preparedness. The Fiscal Year 2024 Interior Appropriations bill provides clear direction to BLM to develop a new agreement that \u201cmaintains or enhances the current level of fire protection for western Oregon forestlands through the Western Oregon Operating Plan agreement.\u201d\n\nAs our communities continue to deal with the impacts of fire seasons that are coming earlier, and fires that are burning more frequently and with catastrophic intensity, it is imperative that a new agreement provide a significant level of long-term stability for communities throughout western Oregon. These communities require reliable and consistent plans to carry out crucial long-term planning and operational tasks that will better prepare them for wildfire risks in the future. We previously applauded the Department\u2019s emphasis on interagency cooperation as part of its five- year Wildland Fire Strategy and believe that anything short of a full five-year extension will fail to meet the Department\u2019s own strategy and the needs of the communities in western Oregon that are nestled within some of the highest risk firesheds in the country.\n\nWe thank you both for your attention to this matter and urge your teams to continue working with all interested parties to ensurecommunities in Western Oregon continue to have the tools they need to successfully address wildfire protection.\n\nSincerely,", 1, "2026-03-30T01:40:41Z", "2026-04-07T20:47:55Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://bonamici.house.gov/media/press-releases/oregon-delegation-urges-renewed-commitment-states-wildfire-response-ahead"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.0077389888465405, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}