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Oregon Summary

Below you will find county-by-county maps and tables that illustrate the data in this study.

Click on chart for a larger version below.

Our research found that:

  • Of the 11 western states, Oregon has the largest area of undeveloped, forested private land bordering fire-prone public lands, and is ranked third in the amount of forested land where homes have already been built next to public lands.
  • Oregon has nearly 6000 square miles of forested private land that borders public lands, of which 90 percent has not yet been developed.
  • Housing in Oregon's wildland urban interface consumes 4.5 acres per person, compared to the 0.5 acres per person average on other private lands in the West.
  • Oregon has 110,563 residences built near forested public lands, of which 15 percent are seasonal homes or cabins.
  • Oregon ranks third among western states in the number of homes built in forested areas next to public lands, but ranks near the bottom (10th) in the percentage of those homes that are only seasonally occupied.

The area of southwestern Oregon that overlaps the Southern Cascade mountain range contains several of the most severely at-risk counties among western states, both in terms of existing risk of wildfire (number of square miles of the wildland urban interface with homes now), and potential future risk (number of square miles of wildland interface that remains undeveloped). Lane, Josephine and Jackson counties together have 76,167 people living in 33,843 homes, spread over 281 square miles of wildland urban interface. Lane and Jackson Counties also have large areas of currently undeveloped private land bordering wildlands where homes could be built in the future, putting lives and property in the path of wildfires.

Existing Risk Map - Click to Zoom
Yellow areas on the map illustrate existing development in fire-prone areas (forested areas adjacent public lands that have been developed); all other development is shown in red; public lands are shown in green.

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Oregon Summary Statistics
West-Wide 3,290.0 20,350.1 14.0% 915,071 21.0%
Oregon 622.1 5,337.8 10.4% 110,563 15.0%

Top 10 Counties in Oregon Ranked by Existing Risk

Counties are ranked by the number of square miles of developed land in the wildland interface
Josephine County Oregon 119.1 185.7 39.0% 12,451 5.0%
Jackson County Oregon 82.9 463.7 15.0% 7,647 5.0%
Lane County Oregon 78.9 626.6 11.0% 13,704 7.0%
Clackamas County Oregon 46.6 101.7 31.0% 8,033 12.0%
Douglas County Oregon 40.5 964.4 4.0% 4,735 8.0%
Deschutes County Oregon 36.0 62.4 37.0% 15,502 30.0%
Lincoln County Oregon 35.6 147.4 19.0% 9,510 26.0%
Coos County Oregon 27.1 266.5 9.0% 4,909 7.0%
Tillamook County Oregon 26.6 110.8 19.0% 4,285 40.0%
Clatsop County Oregon 16.7 85.5 16.0% 4,017 19.0%

Top 10 Counties in Oregon Ranked by Potential Risk

Counties are ranked by the number of square miles of undeveloped land in the wildland interface.
Douglas County Oregon 40.5 964.4 4.0% 4,735 8.0%
Lane County Oregon 78.9 626.6 11.0% 13,704 7.0%
Jackson County Oregon 82.9 463.7 15.0% 7,647 5.0%
Klamath County Oregon 14.9 338.6 4.0% 2,421 23.0%
Coos County Oregon 27.1 266.5 9.0% 4,909 7.0%
Grant County Oregon 1.7 235.9 1.0% 275 14.0%
Linn County Oregon 4.0 213.0 2.0% 1,192 11.0%
Josephine County Oregon 119.1 185.7 39.0% 12,451 5.0%
Curry County Oregon 10.9 154.8 7.0% 2,373 12.0%
Lake County Oregon 0.1 154.7 0.0% 7 57.0%

Click on column headers to see all data in the West sorted by that column.

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