Wile Oregon's Department of Forestry has asked for a budget increase of 12% in preparation for an acceleration of wildfires, past survivors are still waiting for federal grant distribution.

Nigel Jaquiss reported in the Oregon Journalism Project that out of the $422 million grant Congress authorized to help Oregonians recover from the destructive 2020 wildfires, records show that more than 90% of the money remains unspent, even as hundreds of families still wait for relief.

Oregon Housing and Community Services (OHCS) is the state agency responsible for distributing federal wildfire recovery funds. The federal funds, totaling $422 million, were granted four years ago by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to help survivors of the 2020 wildfires. But, OHCS has spent less than 10%, including $11.8 million on administration and $21.1 million going to survivors. The fires ignited during the Labor Day weekend, consuming more than 850,000 acres and 4,000 homes in five “megafires”.

OHCS administers federal funds through a program called "ReOregon". However the website has been removed making it impossible to check status or apply for relief. In response to a mid-May public records request and subsequent questions from the Oregon Journalism Project, Delia Hernández, a spokeswoman for OHCS, acknowledged the rollout of the federal aid, which it calls “ReOregon,” hasn’t gone as the department hoped.

“The agency’s risk tolerance slowed down the process,” Hernández told Jaquiss. “Another challenge was that OHCS had not engaged in disaster recovery work of this scale. The agency was trying to figure out: Where did the state lead and where did it take a back seat?”

Spokeswoman Roxy Mayer for Gov. Tina Kotek told Jaquiss that Kotek is “frustrated” with the pace of recovery and the distribution of federal dollars. “The governor acknowledges that ReOregon was initially difficult to navigate for many people who need the support and did not meet community expectations. [She] will not be satisfied until all 2020 wildfire survivors have access to safe and stable housing.

As Oregon prepares for the 2025 wildfire season, which is expected to be worse, will Kotek put demand on her agency to clear up 2020? The agency has tripled in size over the past decade as the state battles a housing crisis, but it had no experience in disaster relief because Oregon had never experienced the residential destruction it saw in 2020. Survivors aren’t buying excuses for risk intolerance or inexperience. They are tired of living in temporary arrangements and want their homes. Even the legislators have turned against them putting additional restrictions on rebuilding.

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

A D V E R T I S E M E N T

The OHCS 2025-27 budget proposal (page 483) presents Disaster Recovery and Resilience has $140,062,134 in federal funds for 2023-25 increasing to $167,383,063 and increases for 2025-27 and another increase to $170,404,188 in 2027-29. The increases indicate no distribution of fund are planned until the funds expire in 2029.

According to Jaquiss, OHCS chief financial officer Caleb Yant told lawmakers his agency feels confident the Trump administration will not withdraw the unspent dollars before the grant expires in 2029. The agency has also made substantial funding commitments to survivors in recent months and reached an agreement with HUD in May allowing greater flexibility in distributing such a large amount of money. But Yant apologized for how slowly dollars have gotten to fire survivors.


--Donna Bleiler

Post Date: 2025-06-07 10:34:00

Last Update: 2025-06-06 23:16:17