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12 CapitalPress.com Friday, December 27, 2019 Wildfires: Analysis found 4.5M homes nationwide are at risk of wildfire damage Continued from Page 1 The loss of farm and ranch land can be at least partially attributed to bur- geoning housing construc- tion. Between 1997 and 2017, the number of crop acres fell 13.7% in Ore- gon, 9.7% in Washington, 8.7% in Idaho and 13.2% in California. Nationwide, the average shrinkage was 10.9%. During the same 20 years, the number of pas- ture acres shrank by 11.25% in Oregon, 17.4% in Wash- ington, 7.6% in Idaho and 22.5% in California. As farms and ranches have been gobbled up for homes they have exposed the new developments to the potential for wildfires. The 2019 Verisk Wildfire Risk Analysis found nearly 4.5 million Western U.S. homes, including more than 2 million in California, are at high or extreme risk of wildfire damage. “There is finally begin- ning to be kind of a culture shock and culture change that government cannot resolve all of the issues with wildland fire itself,” said Bob Roper, a retired Ventura County, Calif., fire chief and former Nevada state forester. “... This needs the public’s help and ulti- mately we need to learn to live with wildfire.” Roper, who is involved in the International Asso- ciation of Fire Chiefs and Western Fire Chiefs Asso- ciation, said the National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy calls for restoring land to healthy conditions, build- ing “fire-adapted” com- munities designed to with- stand a wildfire if no trucks are available and having a robust response system. “As population growth increases in some of these areas, that means there should be corresponding increases in the number of vehicles and resources $3.5 billion Federal costs to fight wildfires * 3 (Billions of dollars) 2.5 John Bailey, U.S. Forest Service costs DOI agencies costs Bob Roper you have available, and that has not always been the case,” he said. “Pub- lic officials realize we can’t always be there for every- body. We are trying to get the public to acknowledge that and become part of the solution.” 2 (Department of Interior agencies include Bureau of Indian Affairs, Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) 1.5 1.7 1 0.58 0.5 Area of concern Jason Boal, community planning manager with Ada County, Idaho, Develop- ment Services in the Boise area, has worked in county planning in the state for about a decade, including stints in northern and east- ern regions. “Everywhere I have been, the wildland-urban interface has been a topic of conversation and an area of concern for jurisdictions,” he said. Development creeping into farmland, rangeland and other open areas has been a longtime growth pattern in much of Idaho, includ- ing Ada County, Boal said. County, community and business leaders have been working on a coordinated growth strategy that would keep new housing construc- tion next to or near existing development, for example. Ada County requires subdivisions in its wild- land-overlay district to have a comprehensive wild- land fire plan, control veg- etation and maintain road access and turnouts for fire vehicles. Fire agencies also weigh in on proposed developments. “We are seeing the con- versation spread about wild- land-urban interface and how we deal with it beyond just fire,” Boal said. Flood, landslide and mudslide risk also come into play. $3.14 billion: Up 7.7% from 2017; Up 443% from 1988 0.21 0 1988 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010 2015 2018 *Suppression only; includes all private, state and federal lands. Source: National Interagency Fire Center Alan Kenaga/Capital Press Brad Carlson/Capital Press Dan Richter, managing partner of the Avimor commu- nity north of Eagle, Idaho. Other states In Central Oregon, fast-growing Deschutes County has for years seen development close to for- ests and grassland used for grazing. “With the rapid growth that we have in the North- west, in Oregon and in Deschutes County, we are seeing more and more growth in the wildland-ur- ban interface,” said Zecha- riah Heck, associate planner for the county. Deschutes County has numerous zones for the wild- land-urban areas, including a Thank you for trusting the Capital Press On the heels of a depressing Gallop survey that found only 41 percent of Americans have even a fair amount of trust that the media will report the news “fully, accurately and fairly,” we decided to conduct a survey of Capital Press readers. The results were humbling in an era when so many mistrust the press. More than 280 of you participated, a number that we are told is “statistically significant.” Our survey shows 58 percent of our readers find the Capital Press more credible than other news sources, and 39 percent find us equally credible. “I think your stories give agriculture a voice that mainstream media outlets refuse to give,” one reader said in a comment typical of the responses we received. We are ever conscious of the fact that your trust is ours to lose. The Capital Press is dedicated to fair, unbiased and thorough reporting of the issues. We strive to be honest in our dealings with subscribers and advertisers. It is our honor to serve you. On behalf of everyone here at the Capital Press, I hope you had a very Merry Christmas and wish you the happiest of New Years. Thank you for your patronage. Joe Beach Editor & Publisher EMPOWERING PRODUCERS OF FOOD & FIBER S162289-1 forest-use zone that is fairly restrictive and requires con- ditional-use approval before a home is built. Wildfire challenges John Bailey, a professor in the Oregon State Univer- sity College of Forestry, said Bend and some other com- munities in the West have made strides. For planned development projects, “the secret is, right at the beginning, admitting it’s going to be challenged by wildfire on a number of different fronts,” he said. Such challenges include “a wind-driven fire coming towards it, but also all of the ember rain that is going to be cast into it. Many com- munities are getting there, and the insurance industry is getting there,” Bailey said. Getting home insurance in fire-prone areas can be a problem. A 2018 California Department of Insurance report found that authoriz- ing new insurers and boost- ing outreach created more coverage options. However, it “did not solve the overarching prob- lem of lack of available and affordable coverage in the traditional homeowners’ insurance market” in wild- land-urban areas. Potential solutions include aligning standards of the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protec- tion and the Insurance Insti- tute for Building and Home Safety, and having insurers agree to provide coverage to homeowners who meet these requirements. Insurance premiums are 25% to 50% higher for home policies in high fire- risk areas. More concerns In Idaho, plans to develop or expand large communi- ties in the former farm and ranch land near Boise have drawn fresh local concerns. Finaldi, the homeowner, said some of the newer developments have been designed with more fire- aware features. “When you get into these old neighborhoods, you are mitigating for a lot of things that often were inappropri- ately planted and allowed to grow untended,” she said. “So you are doing a lot of catch-up and mitigation.” In the foothills north of Eagle, a suburb of Boise, about 500 homes have been built, 60 are under con- struction and thousands more are proposed in Avi- mor, a planned community. The National Fire Protec- tion Association designates it a “Firewise” community, meaning residents must meet landscape and defensi- ble-space standards. “People feel some com- fort knowing somebody is thinking of that,” Avimor Managing Partner Dan Rich- ter said. “Very rarely do we get significant push-back.” Southwest Idaho Resource Conservation and Development last year issued Avimor a grant of more than $40,000 to aid in planting forage kochia on its perimeter. Scott Buck, dep- uty chief of the Eagle Fire Protection District, said it will be a year or more before the winter-germinating plant’s impacts are known. But the idea is to help pro- tect the perimeter or keep a fire that starts within Avimor from spreading. “We are looking at differ- ent areas of the foothills for a similar project,” he said. “And we are always looking for partners,” including land- owners providing access. As more people move to the area, “ag ground is leaving and more people are pushing into the foot- hills,” Buck said. “Anytime we get a wildfire event in the Boise Front (range), we know homes are going to be impacted.” More personnel and equipment are needed once people and structures are threatened, he said. Travel distance, terrain and fire- fuel type also can pressure resources. BLM’s Jablonski said that in wildland-urban fires, inci- dent commanders’ ordered priorities are life, property and resources. This increases the chance that the fire’s foot- print will expand. He said the wildland-ur- ban interface refers to a com- bination of homes, flam- mable vegetation and open space; it’s not necessarily a foothill or forested environ- ment. Grasslands south and east of Boise, for example, may be included. Finaldi and her husband, Jim Traub, bought their home in the Boise Foothills a decade ago. Would they do it again? “I really don’t know,” Finaldi said. “I would cer- tainly be more aware, and assess the overall pros and cons a little differently than perhaps the first time.” But they love their home, on which they installed fire-resistant cement-board siding in 2015. “It’s definitely a privilege to live in this area,” Finaldi said. “But you have to be aware and you have to be diligent, for sure. And if you need to go, you pack up and go. You don’t hang out.” Dams: Final study will incorporate the public comments Continued from Page 1 “I think they genuinely listened and began to real- ize this whole thing is more complicated than meets the eye,” he said. “It’s not as easy as giving a farmer a nickel, dime, 20 cents a bushel — case solved.” The study was recom- mended by a governor’s task force on reviving the orca population in Puget Sound. Scientists blame a declining orca population on a lack of chinook salmon for the killer whales to eat. All Snake River salmon runs are federally threat- ened or endangered spe- cies. Gov. Jay Inslee and the Legislature supported the $750,000 study to cata- log different perspectives on breaching the dams as a way to increase fish runs. The preliminary study represents the views of peo- ple representing farmers, tribes, environmentalists, fishermen, shippers and gov- ernment officials. The public can comment on the study through Jan. 24. The final study will incor- porate the public comments and the results of an online survey. There will be pub- lic workshops and panel dis- cussions on the study Jan. 7 in Clarkston, Jan. 9 in Van- couver and Jan. 13 in the Tri-Cities. The U.S. Army Corps of ONLINE COMMENT FORM http://lsrdstakeholder- process.org/draft-report- comment-form/ Engineers, Bureau of Rec- lamation and Bonneville Power Administration are expected to release in Feb- ruary a draft environmen- tal impact statement on the Columbia River system. Breaching the four dams — Ice Harbor, Lower Mon- umental, Little Goose and Lower Granite — is one option under study. Inslee has said the study will inform his response to what the federal government proposes. “I encourage Washingto- nians to get engaged in the public comment period over the next month and share their input on what should be done,” Inslee said in a statement. The study, conducted by a private firm, does not rec- ommend retaining or breach- ing the dams. It cites pre- vious reports on the dam’s uses and effect on salmon and summarizes the views of “stakeholders.” The study listed the peo- ple who were interviewed, but did not attribute specific comments to individuals. Some 5 million acres of farmland, approximately one-third of the state’s total, are in the eight counties sur- rounding the dams, accord- ing to the study. Interviewers found East- ern Washington residents who supported keeping the dams said people on the “coast” didn’t understand or respect their values. Supporters of breaching the dams said public subsi- dies for new irrigation sys- tems, roads and rail lines could offset the harm to agriculture. “It is important to make agriculture ‘whole,’ so farmers do not suffer sig- nificant economic losses if the dams are breached,” the study reported. Farm groups said the dis- ruption to businesses, com- munities and families would be significant, as would the costs. U.S. Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers and Dan Newhouse, both Eastern Washington Republicans, issued a joint statement say- ing the study provided noth- ing new and that taxpayers should be outraged. “We had no idea a year ago when we said this study would be a wasteful use of taxpayer dollars just how accurate we’d be — imag- ine how far $750,000 could have gone to directly sup- port salmon recovery efforts,” according to the statement.
