Nonprofit Oregon avalanche centers relatively insulated from federal chaos

The Trump administration, with the help of Elon Musk, has been making cuts to federal departments that help people get through their daily lives. But nonprofit avalanche centers, despite their inherent funding challenges, aren’t caught up in the mass firings in the same way.

“It is a very challenging time. We are still in the avalanche forecasting business today, but there is a tremendous amount of uncertainty,” said Simon Trautman.

Trautman is director of the National Avalanche Center. He spoke with OPB last month.

Of the 24 avalanche centers in the United States, a third are nonprofit organizations and not administered by a state or the federal government. Most centers, like the National Avalanche Center have a nonprofit arm, but forecasters are often federal employees.

In Oregon, two of the three avalanche centers that provide public information about avalanche danger are nonprofits. The Wallowa Avalanche Center and the Central Oregon Avalanche Center, or COAC, deal with challenges to raising enough money, but they are somewhat insulated from the chaos of the mass federal firings.

“We really wanted to be part of the Forest Service, because there’s a lot of resources involved. But in the current political climate, I think we are psyched to be a nonprofit,” said Gabriel Coler, COAC’s lead forecaster.

Budget cuts to the two federal agencies that serve avalanche centers, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the United States Forest Service, could hinder avalanche centers’ ability to provide life-saving free information to the public.

Last month, two experienced backcountry skiers were killed in an avalanche in Central Oregon, raising awareness of the sudden dangers of winter recreation.

Victor McNeil, executive director of the Wallowa Avalanche Center, said the center uses tools provided by the National Weather Service office in Pendleton to help with avalanche forecasting.

“We couldn’t do our job without our relationship with them,” he said.

Both Wallowa and COAC use tools from the National Avalanche Center and federal agencies. But they do not receive any federal or state funding, according to McNeil and COAC’s board president, Bryce Kellogg.

COAC uses a mix of memberships, grants and corporate sponsorships.

“It’s very similar to public radio in that we have members, we have corporate sponsors from local businesses,” Kellogg said.

COAC has been forecasting and observing for 15 years, according to Kellogg. It provides daily avalanche forecasts, free of charge, for people recreating in Central Oregon.

The range of coverage is from Mount Bachelor to Three-Fingered Jack and includes recreation areas on Paulina Peak.

Coler has been forecasting and observing with COAC for a little over a decade. He compares the information the center provides to information that fire agencies provide about fire danger level for a given day.

But it is slightly different. Avalanche forecasts help people who are engaging in inherently risky activities to mitigate that risk.

“We try and help people that are choosing to expose themselves to a hazard,” Trautman said.

Wallowa and COAC have teams of five and six forecasters, respectively, but they cover different amounts of terrain. Wallowa covers more terrain than COAC.

While they don’t have to deal with uncertainty from the federal level, they are always trying to fundraise.

“Bend is lucky to have a community base that’s: One, very into outdoor pursuits; and two, is in a financial position to contribute to something like this,” Kellogg said.

But he added that a tiny bit of state funding would make a big difference for all three avalanche centers that serve Oregon.

“The state investment in avalanche safety, the appropriate level of investment, is probably not zero,” said Kellogg.

COAC’s budget is about $120,000. With something closer to $200,000, the center could hire an executive director, he said.

But Kellogg said the organization has remained cautious about growing too fast.

“We’ve tried not to get out over our skis and do something that we can’t continue doing,” he said.