Outdoor summer camps in Oregon rescheduling and canceling due to wildfire smoke

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This is Think Out Loud on OPB. I'm Jeff Norcross, in for Dave Miller. There have been times this summer when parts of Oregon had the worst air quality in the world. Wildfire smoke has a way of permeating every part of our lives and even ruining some of our cherished summer activities. Outdoor camps across the state have had to make adjustments like moving activities indoors or even canceling altogether. We're going to talk about this now with Dave McDonald and Sarah Walcott. Dave is the executive director of Mount Hood Camp Kiwanis, and Sarah is the Community Education Program Manager at Central Oregon Community College, which runs a few youth camps in the summer. Dave, Sarah, it's good to have both of you. Thanks for joining us. Thanks, Jeff. Thank you. I'd like both of you to talk a little bit more about specifics, about how the air quality has affected your camps. And, Dave, let's start with you. Well, thanks, Jeff. Yeah, it has had an effect on our operations all summer, really. There have been a couple of days where we've had to move programs indoors for single days. But then last week was a more dramatic shift. when air quality became so bad that we had to cancel the week of camp. The AQI actually exceeded 600, which is... quite something for a few days last week. And then the wind shifted, and now it's working more in our favor, blowing west to east since our camp is on the west side of Mount Hood. And so we decided to have camp again this week, but all eyes are on the wind and the fire danger to make sure that everyone is healthy and safe. We serve a population of... people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. And among that population, there are a number of medically fragile folks. So we don't mess around with bad air quality. Have you ever had to do that before? Flat out cancel in camp. Not cancel. We have been affected in like in single days from time to time. But this is the first time we've had to cancel camp. What about you, Sarah? What steps have you specifically had to take this summer? We predominantly have indoor camps throughout the summer, but we did have four separate one-day youth camps that were all based outside. And we did have to cancel our last one of the summer. It was supposed to happen today, actually, at the COCC Prineville campus. And the AQI was 700-plus yesterday. We made the executive decision just to cancel it well in advance instead of waking up early this morning and making that decision. So we did, unfortunately, have to cancel a really cool outdoor camp today. You both specifically mentioned AQI levels. I'm wondering if there's an actual trigger that you have in mind when you make a decision like that. Sarah, start with you. We follow the Oregon Health Authority guidelines for youth.

During wildfire smoke, they have updated air quality guidance that came out earlier this summer. And so let's say it was a quote unquote normal day where I wake up and at 7 a.m. I look at the AQI levels on say air now.gov. And if the AQI is 150 or more, we automatically, if we have an outdoor camp, We bring that camp indoors all day long, and we don't have any outdoor activities. And this is also what the Ben, the Pine Schools, this is their protocol as well. So we dovetail with that. How about you, Dave? Your protocol similar? Yeah, it's a little more conservative because of the population that we serve. We really don't. want people that are medically fragile to have to breathe foul air. So in our case, we've had a protocol that requires masks after an AQI of 50. And after an AQI of 100, we move programs indoors. We can only do that. And this is an overnight camp, by the way, our campers are in for five days. So it's, you know, it's an outdoor camp. So to move things indoors. is not really practical for more than a day. I'd like to talk a little bit more about what's lost when you make a decision like that. And Dave, you had mentioned already that your camps are specifically for individuals with physical and mental disabilities. What is the hope of, what is gained by providing an outdoor space that's accessible to people with those disabilities and what is lost when you have to take it away because of weather? Well, in terms of what's gained by our programs, this is a population that, frankly, many times marginalized in in their day-to-day lives. They're met with no more than they're met with yes. And a lot of folks wouldn't assume that somebody who is, you know, maybe has cerebral palsy, uses a wheelchair, is nonverbal, is fed through a tube. They don't necessarily believe that they can go down a zip line or ride a horse or climb a rock wall. And we have adaptive... programs, adaptive harnesses, adaptive equipment, and people who are trained to assist them, and we don't do anything that 100% of the campers can't participate in. So that's the positive side of what our programs represent. And when we have to cancel camp, you know, this camp is... The highlight of the year for many of our campers, it's their Disneyland experience because it's all about acceptance and love and everything you can do and not about what you're not allowed to do. And so when a camp like this is canceled, it's really difficult on the campers and on their families who look forward to programs like this for respite purposes. What about you, Sarah? When you have to cancel youth camps, what is lost? For us, I think some of the biggest losses have to do in our rural communities of Redmond, Madras, and Pineville, where the majority, if not all of our camps, are grant funded. So this summer, for example, the Roundhouse Foundation supported zero-cost camps in all three of those communities. And so for many campers,

A low cost or a zero-cost camp participation allows them to go to summer camp. And so it's a big loss, even if it's just, quote, unquote, a day camp for one day. You know, that six or eight-hour experience is really just a big loss, whether... your inside or outside just having that cool summer camp opportunity means a lot to those campers if we have to cancel because of AQI. Dave, I see you want to get in on that. Well, yeah, I just wanted to say I was talking about our mission and what's gained and lost from performing the mission financially and from a business point of view. We had between 50 and 60 campers last week and we seek to have a one-to-one camper to counselor ratio. So it's very expensive to run this program. In the best days, camper registration fees represent only 40% of what it costs us to. provide the camp and the rest is all about fundraising. So last week we lost over $100,000 and for a organization like ours, that's pretty dramatic. Is it possible for you to insure against wildfire smoke cancellations? No, it's not. And in fact, it's extremely difficult for anyone on Mount Hood to even get property insurance or fire insurance for building loss because of the risk pool that insurance companies... look at has been severely compromised with Western wildfires and they just don't offer insurance anymore. How are you going to make up that $100,000 hole? Well, we are out with a public appeal right now with the folks that support the camp usually. We have a database of 700,000 folks, and we put out an urgent appeal yesterday to try to put a dent in that. And we're gratified that so many folks have responded. And with some luck, we'll get close. What about you, Sarah? Is there any way to backfill what you lost by canceling these camps? As far as enrollment numbers go, we can always try to reschedule camps that we've had to cancel. We are in a different position. with this conversation because we have four campuses throughout Central Oregon, so Bend, Redmond, Madras, and Prineville. And the vast majority of our camps are held inside already. So if a campus doesn't close because of AQI, generally we are able to either massage curriculum to accommodate campers who are already inside or take an outdoor camp and bring it inside.

Yesterday afternoon, the COCC-Prinville campus closed in its entirety because of poor air quality. So that's where it really, it's hard to backfill when just the building is closed by General Principal. We will try to reschedule down the line, maybe for an early release Wednesday or during holiday breaks or even next year when time allows. If you're just tuning in, we're talking about how the bad air from wildfire smoke is affecting and even shutting down summer camps around the state. Sarah Walcott is the community education program manager at Central Oregon Community College. And Dave McDonald is the executive director at Mount Hood Camp Kiwanis. Sarah, you mentioned a couple of times now the shutting down of the Pryneville campus and the camps that we're going to be held there. Can you talk more through that decision and why such a dramatic decision was made? Yeah, and I do have to preface this with I work on the non-credit side of programming. And so full campus closures that's made with a senior leadership team that I'm not necessarily like a decision maker with. But there's a number of different factors that include classes, camps. that are going on that particular day. The COCC Pineville campus is an open campus that's shared with Cook County. And so they, you know, the air quality was over 700, up to 1,000 near that campus, which is just hideous on all accounts. I am able to make. independent decisions regarding cancellations, but with four different college campuses over a 10,000 square, you know, mile radius, or not mile radius, but encompassing such a large geographical area, those decisions are made just on a day by day basis. I mean, where I live in Southwest Redmond yesterday, we had beautiful air quality until the evening, yet Pryneville was stocked in all day. really just have to look at these individual areas and their geography almost on an hour-to-hour basis. Given the effectiveness of the air quality, just like you mentioned, it can be fine, it can be terrible, it can be fine again, and it can vary quite a bit from region to region within just central Oregon itself. I mean, how do you even prepare for the possibility of wildfire smoke affecting your operations? For us at COCC, we have a really nimble team on the non-credit side of enrichment programming with community education. So just mechanically within our department, we can make quick decisions and contact all campers and their parents within 20 minutes of a closure, for example. So we have processes in place and communication protocols where we can reach everyone in a really timely fashion. But again, four campuses spread throughout such a large geographical area. You know, you just have to stay on top of it from morning, noon, tonight about what's happening in your area, unfortunately, these days. Dave, you had mentioned that you pride yourself on offering a one-on-one experience for campers at the Kiwanis, and that means staff. So I'm wondering how all these closures and all these adjustments have affected your staff.

Oh, well, it's, you know, first of all, they're heartbroken because they're committed to providing this service for these folks. But secondly, just the uncertainty as to whether there's going to be another week is difficult for them. In our case, again, our folks are awfully committed, and so when we made the decision over the weekend that we would hold camp this week, we... hustled around and got on the phone and tried to get everybody back and we're pretty successful in doing that, although a couple of folks dropped out. But, you know, it's probably just like with Sarah, it's a scramble to stay ahead of it and to recover when it's time to recover. Sarah, you know, the reality of life in Oregon right now is we're going to have wildfire smoke every summer in all likelihood. And I'm wondering if the experience of having to make these adjustments. has changed the plan in some way and made it so that you might be in a better position come next spring? Yeah. It's curious because on one hand, we're more protected because the lion's share of our youth activities are indoors already, but wildfire activity and air quality is so volatile anymore that I think... you know, we have to have just, you know, follow our protocols and processes and update them almost on a weekly basis, just depending on what's happening. So anymore, whether you have an indoor base camp or an outdoor base camp, you have to have backup plans that are modified just very frequently just to make sure you're either. able to provide an alternate activity for your campers, which we are able to because we don't generally service who Dave is servicing, for example, with his camps. But still, we've had to massage what types of offerings we provide and times of year is really a big thing. Dave, you have more camps planned for the summer? Our summer camp lasts for eight weeks. This week is our last week. And so back to a previous question, we can't reschedule those who missed camp because we operated full capacity. And so, yeah, we're about done with the camp season, although we rent our property to community groups and the like during the winter. And so we have to be ready to... provide them with the kind of alerts and warnings and evacuation schemes that might be necessary in the case of smoke or more dramatically in the case of fire. We spent a lot of time this year preparing and having plans in place. But the whole thing is so unpredictable, you know, the best laid plans, etc. Yeah, yeah. Well, kind of a variation on what I asked Sarah. Looking ahead to next year, will your experience this year maybe affect your plan in any way? Yeah, you know, I'm sure it will. You know, at the end of each year, we always get together and do kind of what I call a post-mortem. We talk about what wasn't well, what didn't go well, what happened that was new, and this experience was certainly new. So we will huddle together and try to make plans that allow us to perform better than we performed this year, although we think we did.

pretty well under those circumstances. Well, last question for both of you, and I'll start with you, Sarah, for any possible participant or parent of a participant in one of these camps and maybe thinking about joining in the years ahead, what do they need to know? In terms of, you know, future camp offerings and what could happen in the event of wildfire or air quality, you know, please know, a parent's decision is always going to be the best decision for their campers. So, for example, if they're signed up for something at COCC Madras, for example, and... Gosh, we have to cancel it because of, you know, smoke conditions. We're going to do everything possible. to reschedule that, or if it is a cost-based camp, of course we will provide a full refund. It's an active nature. And we're always going to try to be putting different offerings on the book. So if something doesn't happen one week, you know, maybe two weeks down the road, we have the flexibility to reschedule. And there's a lot of individual decision-making, too. If a camper has asthma, for example, and doesn't feel well. the day of a scheduled camp, and they don't want to go. Of course, we will honor that cancellation. No problem. There will be no discrimination if a camper wakes up and doesn't feel well. If the smoke quality is, say, 100, and we haven't canceled the camp, for example, but they're not feeling well. Same question to you, Dave. Message for would-be participants? Yeah, this year we may put a lot of plans into what if. And part of our plans included creating a laminated card that would stand out in a packet of information to parents exposing to them what our evacuation plans were and how far away that they needed to be in order to be able to come get their camper since we're in a remote location. And in the absence of some... somebody being able to get there. We had evacuation plans, and I have to a shout out to the Hoodland Fire District in Clackamas County, who were very helpful in helping us develop these plans of evacuating camp if it was necessary. I'm sorry you have to do that, but I'm glad that you did. Dave McDonald, Sarah Walcott, thank you so much for this conversation. I appreciate it. Thanks, Jeff. Thank you for having me. Dave McDonald is the executive director of Mount Hood Camp Kiwanis, and Sarah Walcott is the Community Education Program Manager at Central Oregon Community College. Members make Think Out Loud and all of OPB's independent journalism possible. Support the next fascinating story and join in as a sustainer at opb.org slash pod.