Forest Park is the largest forested city park in the United States. Our collective forest within a city is an oasis for recreation and physical and mental health benefits. Due to changing climate conditions, the presences of flammable, non-native fuels, and the risk of human-caused fires from its proximity to a densely populated urban environment all create a significant wildfire risk.
Hundreds of people live and work on private property adjacent to Forest Park. These areas, where the urban and natural environment intercept, are called the Wildland Urban Interface.
Wildfires can happen here in Portland, and local fire professionals at Portland Fire & Rescue remind us that as climate conditions change, strategies to protect Forest Park must adapt.
With the population of urban centers continuing to grow, protecting Forest Park means more than just focusing on the habitat within the park boundaries. Organizations and city agencies must also work alongside neighbors to create defensible spaces, encourage participation in wildfire preparedness efforts, and work collaboratively across the landscape to address this complicated risk.
Fire Year 2022: Neighbors Taking Action
While abundant rain blanketed the Willamette Valley throughout spring, drought conditions continued across the state.
Governor Brown has asked Oregonians to prepare for a “difficult 2022 fire season that will challenge our fire fighting teams and the capacity of our response systems.”
Fortunately, many of Forest Park’s neighbors are preemptively taking on the threat of wildfire risk and are champions of this collaborative work. Neighbors are volunteering to remove vegetative overgrown, talking with their neighbors, and working on getting their community recognized as “Firewise” through the National Fire Protection Association’s Firewise USA Program.
Catch a glimpse of a “Protect Forest Park” or “Protector of Forest Park” sign recently? These signs are intended to bring more people into the work accomplished through the Forest Park Wildfire Risk Reduction Program.
“Forest Park isn’t just for those of us who live closest to the park – it’s for our whole community! Schools take educational walks through here, folks run/hike/bike. The park hosts out-of-state and out-of-country guests.
Even though I am on our local Firewise committee (which advertises home fire inspections, conducts neighborhood clean-ups, etc.), we are all stewards of this land.
Everyone can do a small thing to protect our forest from harm and degradation and keep it flourishing for future generations.” – Audrey Yue, Forest Park Neighbor.
About the Forest Park Wildfire Risk Reduction Program
The Forest Park Wildfire Risk Reduction Project is made possible through a grant from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), awarded to Portland Fire & Rescue, Portland Parks & Recreation, and the Forest Park Conservancy.
FEMA made this funding available to mitigate the impact of wildfire and provide fire risk prevention in Multnomah County. Click here for more information about this program.
Click here to read more about collaboration between city officials and neighbors in OPB’s Think Out Loud piece, “Homeowners near Forest Park organize against wildfires.”
Email us for questions or more information about the Forest Park Wildfire Risk Reduction program.