Amid weeks of harsh criticism from and toward Stitt, the governor set up a Wildland Fire Working Group to review the response to March's wildfires and evaluate the Oklahoma Forestry Services.
The group, which includes representatives from state agencies, public utilities and local fire chiefs, met for the first time in April. It's led by the state Secretary of Agriculture Blayne Arthur and Secretary of Emergency Management Trish Everest.
The meeting wasn't open to the public, but Arthur said the discussions were fruitful.
"It's very focused, of course, on wildland fire," Arthur said. "But I think what we found is there's a lot of pieces of just emergency response, because as you know, in Oklahoma, we have natural disasters of all types. So really good dialogue about just collaboration and how we can all work together to move Oklahoma forward in the best fashion."
The Forestry Services was established in 1925 under the state's erstwhile Planning and Resources Board. But it's been under the umbrella of the Department of Agriculture, Food and Forestry since 1959.
For decades, the division's main priority has been safeguarding Oklahoma's timber crop, mostly in the southeastern part of the state. That includes protecting the trees from fires and helping landowners with planting and forest management.
But the state's expectations for the Forestry Services are changing. Arthur said the agency didn't have a large role in responding to statewide wildfires even a few decades ago. But she saw the shift begin during large wildfires in north-central Oklahoma in 2011 and 2012.
"We've had a changing landscape here in the state of Oklahoma, and we've had bigger fires," Arthur said. "I think that's why we've seen a little bit of evolution of: What is the expectation of response? Where are those resources? What do those resources look like?"
The working group is looking at how state practices can change to fit those new expectations.
After the March fires, Stitt lobbed repeated criticisms at Forestry for where it placed resources, like bulldozers and firetrucks. While fires burned in northern, central and western Oklahoma, many personnel and firefighting tools stayed in the eastern regions delineated as OFS Protection Areas.
Arthur said many officials believed Forestry was required by state law to reserve resources in those protection areas, but the working group reviewed the law and found that isn't the case.
"That isn't set in statute or set in administrative rule," Arthur said. "It's just what our Forestry team has done for several, several decades. And I think it makes sense why that has been done, but I think there's an opportunity to say, 'Is there a better way to provide fire response, or does it need to look like it has always looked?'"
Ahead of the March fires, the Forestry Services moved many resources to the Stillwater area based on predictive modeling about where fire danger would be worst. Arthur said forestry officials hope to continue that practice, and the working group's report mentions implementing a computer-aided dispatch system to help.
The group is also considering disestablishing the OFS Protection Areas as they currently exist, according to their report.
"I know lots of ideas are already being discussed and kicked around of, you know, do we need to have folks stationed all across the state of Oklahoma?" Arthur said. "Does that make sense? What is the best use of taxpayer dollars?"
The working group also suggests establishing a full-time emergency response liaison for the Forestry Services to coordinate disaster responses.
Another change the working group discussed has little to do with the Forestry Services.
Ahead of the March fires, only one county — Delaware County in Northeast Oklahoma — issued a burn ban. The law that allows county commissioners to issue burn bans has specific requirements: temperatures over 100 degrees or the presence of "exceptional fire danger."
To qualify for "exceptional fire danger" under the law, the county must meet ALL three of these requirements.
- Less than half an inch of rain forecast over the next three days
- More fires, more extreme fires, or more escaped fires than normal are happening in the county
- The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has listed the county as under severe, extreme or exceptional drought.
The condition that tripped people up in March was the drought designation. No counties met that requirement, including Delaware County, whose burn ban may not have been statutorily sound.
Changing that statute would require action from the legislature. But the working group is discussing how best to adapt those requirements. Arthur said they hope to present suggestions to the legislature when they convene early next year.
"We want to make sure that it makes sense for everyone," Arthur said. "So that it is a useful tool for county commissioners and our folks at the local level, but also being cognizant of how that could also impact ag producers and the ability to use prescribed fire."
Arthur said the working group hopes to bring in outside experts to present on other states' wildfire responses, and that those meetings may be open to the public. The next working group meeting is expected this summer.
This report was produced by the Oklahoma Public Media Exchange, a collaboration of public media organizations. Help support collaborative journalism by donating at the link at the top of this webpage.
