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<DIV
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style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'; FONT-SIZE: 24pt">Defending
private homes near public forests could overwhelm Forest Service --
report<o:p></o:p></SPAN></B></DIV>
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<P class=MsoNormal>E&E News, February 20, 2013<o:p></o:p></P>
<P class=MsoNormal><o:p></o:p> </P>
<P>Increased home building on private lots near public forestland could push
firefighting costs to levels that nearly consume the Forest Service's annual
$5.5 billion budget, but there is still time to avoid such a disastrous
scenario, a new report says.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>The <A
href="http://headwaterseconomics.org/interactive/wui-development-and-wildfire-costs">report</A>,
released today by Bozeman, Mont.-based Headwaters Economics, used 2010 Census
Bureau data to determine that more than 19,000 square miles of private land near
public forests across the West consists of undeveloped but highly sought-after
parcels.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>If only half these lands within the so-called wildland-urban interface (WUI)
were developed, federal firefighting costs could balloon to as much as $4.3
billion, or most of the Forest Service's annual budget.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>Oregon, with more than 5,100 square miles of undeveloped land in the WUI, is
most at risk, followed by California (3,800 square miles) and Washington (3,200
square miles), according to the report.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>"Our analysis shows that costs for firefighting in the West could grow
tremendously in the coming years," said Ray Rasker, executive director of
Headwaters Economics. "The combination of longer, warmer and drier fire seasons
-- together with more and more nearby homes -- will result in much higher
expenses for taxpayers along with more difficult and dangerous fire seasons for
firefighters."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>Rasker said a key goal of the report is to urge federal policymakers to take
steps to shift the responsibility for protecting these homes to the local
counties and municipalities that permitted the development.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>Among the solutions proposed by Headwaters Economics is mapping areas that
are at "high probability" of wildfires and developing financial incentives for
local governments to redirect development away from them. Another solution is to
eliminate the mortgage interest tax deduction for homeowners who build new homes
within the WUI.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>"The fundamental challenge is that those who permit and build homes on
fire-prone lands -- county commissioners, developers and homeowners -- do not
bear their proportional cost of defending these homes from wildfires," he said.
"We would see a much different pattern of development in the West if the federal
government shifted the financial responsibility of defending homes to local
governments and those who build homes on fire-prone lands."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>The report by the nonprofit research group comes on the heels of a 2012
wildfire season that ranks among the most expensive in Forest Service history.
The Department of Agriculture's Office of Inspector General has reported that
protecting private property from forest fires accounts for at least half of all
firefighting costs.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>A Forest Service spokesman in Washington, D.C., did not respond to requests
to comment for this story.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>But the report drew some sharp criticism from Andy Stahl, executive director
of Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics in Eugene,
Ore.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>"I doubt that wildfire risk will ever be a driving policy consideration when
it comes to local land-use decisions. It never has been. So I'm skeptical it
ever will be," Stahl said.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>The reason, he said, is that the risk to homes from wildfires is simply not
that great.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>"Why isn't the insurance industry requiring higher [insurance] premiums when
building in fire plains as it does when building in flood plains? The answer is
that, actuarially speaking, the risk isn't that high," he said. "The risk of
losing a house to fire is much higher associated with ignition sources from
inside the house, such as a poorly installed wood stove, bad wiring. The risk is
much, much higher from those traditional home immolation
sources."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>The focus, he said, should remain on insuring that homes built in the WUI are
built correctly to withstand fires and that homeowners are required to clear
bushes and other nearby vegetation that can spread a wildfire.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>In Oregon, for example, he said the state has laws in place requiring
homeowners to reduce brush and to take over fuel-reduction treatments or risk
having to pay the bill for the state to suppress a fire, thus shifting the
financial burden to "irresponsible" landowners.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>He said concern about development in the WUI is "a surrogate issue" that's
"being used by those who oppose private land-sprawl." He added, "Trying to use
federal firefighting policy as the fulcrum or lever to change the way Montana or
anywhere else does its local land-use policy is very much an uphill
battle."<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>Still, some states are beginning to take the issue seriously.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>In Colorado, for example, where Headwaters Economics calculates there is more
than 1,400 square miles of undeveloped land in the WUI, Gov. John Hickenlooper
(D) recently signed an executive order creating a task force composed of state
forest and firefighting experts, county and city representatives, insurance
providers and homebuilders to study what should be done about growing
populations near public forestland, among other issues (<A
href="http://www.eenews.net/Greenwire/2013/01/31/archive/9"><EM>Greenwire</EM></A>,
Jan. 31).<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>Last summer, wildfires in Colorado destroyed nearly 600 homes and killed six
people, marking last year as the most destructive wildfire season in the state's
history.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P>"The results [of the report] are a good indication of where future
firefighting dollars will be spent, both this year to protect existing homes and
in the coming years if more residences are built in and around fire-prone
lands," Headwaters Economics' Rasker said.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P><A
href="http://headwaterseconomics.org/interactive/wui-development-and-wildfire-costs">Click
here</A> to read the report.<o:p></o:p></P>
<P><EM>Streater writes from Colorado Springs,
Colo.</EM></P></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></BODY></HTML>