Eight Miles High was a popular rock song initially released in 1966 by The Byrds.

But nobody in Oregon understood how prophetically profound this song title would be in 2025.

Oregon decided to assess wildfire risk and put out maps of it -- from eight miles high, and I'll explain what that is about in just a minute.

This action has directly affected rural Oregon landowners and homeowners, particularly those who take care of their properties, shielding them from wildfire risk.

But instead of visiting the rural communities and the people living there to see what the real risk is, Oregon State University (OSU) and the state of Oregon have decided to assign wildfire risk levels using crude satellite photos to determine wildfire risks.

Lawmakers, particularly Republican ones, are up in arms:

After talking to several state senators, it appears that no on-premise visits were conducted anywhere in Oregon.

Yet, OSU and Oregon can assign risk values by looking at satellite maps and running their numbers on a computer.

Several questions arise from Oregon's actions: Has Oregon and OSU determined whether the landowners or homeowners have taken any wildfire risk reduction measures? If not, why not?

What is the resolution of the satellite cameras? High, like Hubble telescope cameras? Medium, with some details blurred out? Or a low-resolution device where everything is fuzzy and blurred?

Oregon homeowners and landowners deserve and expect that these questions be answered. Homeowners and landowners also deserve visits from state forestry officials to determine their wildfire risk accurately. An Oregon State University professor looking at satellite photos and determining how much insurance premiums will rise because of an educated guess is the height of governmental overreach.

Since Oregon has targeted homes, farms, and ranches as being in high wildfire-risk areas, has Oregon put forth any mediation methods on state lands to fight the wildfires before they begin?

Has Oregon started clearing out brush and undergrowth in the state forests? Has Oregon started cutting fire breaks to stop wildfires from burning out of control? Oregon wants rural Oregonians to take responsibility for containing wildfires while acting like bad neighbors by not cleaning up the state lands.

Eight miles high may be where the satellites are located, but as Buffalo Springfield sang, “There something happening here, and what it is ain’t exactly clear.”
 

Image: Screen shot from KDRV Newswatch 12 video, via YouTube