Every year ODF, the Oregon Department of Forestry, tabulates the total acreage burned by wildfires in Oregon. Predicting the size and severity of each year's wildfires and their long term trends is critical for planning Oregon's infrastructure and the long term prospects of the state.
The question will close at the end of August when fire season gets underway.
The question will be resolved by the sum of the estimated total acres for 2023 in the ODF Fire Occurrence Database (figures usually released in Jan of the following year).
1,000
1.00Can you link to the source for a number of Oregon acres burned in past years?
@kenakofer - Sure!
The ODF Fire Occurrence Database (link in market description) will give you # of acres burned by year dating back to 2000. The site also has visualization plugins so you can explore data in your browser.
Here's a bar chart for # of acres burned 2013-2022: https://www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/documents/odf-protected-acres-burned-chart.pdf
Here's a century poster (1911-2022) showing total acres burned, 10yr trend of total acres burned, and other correlating factors such as the Pacific Decadal Occilation (PDO) phase, # of fires, general cause of fire, 10yr trend for # of fires, whether it was a drought year or not, and various advances in wildfire management technologies / policies:
https://www.oregon.gov/odf/fire/documents/odf-century-fire-history-chart.pdf
Wildfire GIS data: https://oregon-department-of-forestry-geo.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/geo::odf-fire-2/explore?location=43.620952%2c-120.638308%2c8.00
Hope this helps!
As summer fast approaches, so does the dread of wildfire season in Oregon. But after a wet winter, state officials are predicting a tamer fire season than last year.
Kotek highlighted a lower drought intensity than last year, rain and strong snowpacks as reasons to believe this year’s fire season may be less intense in most of Oregon. Other areas, particularly in eastern Oregon, may experience an “above average” fire season, Kotek said.
Fire season typically starts in mid-May to early June, with last year’s season beginning closer to July. Officials on Tuesday said they expect the wildfire season to be delayed depending on weather conditions through May and June.