Agenda - Planning Commission - 10/04/2012

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Limitin Wildfire RiskThrough Land -Use Controls By Molly Mowery and Paul Anthony, AICP Wildfire hazard is a growing threat to communities around the United States. 14i 1ltiF�il 11 1 Preferences for second homes, suburban lifestyles, and the desire to live closer to nature have pushed populations into the wildland-urban interface (WUI)—areas with more vegetation, parks, and forests than their dense city center counterparts. Living closer to nature offers many benefits, but all too often the risk of brush, grass, or forest fires gets overlooked. The reality of wildfire, however, is one we cannot afford to ignore. In 2oii the National Interagency Fire Center reported nearly 75,00o wildfires in the U.S., the majority of which were a result of human activities. At a time when public -sector budgets are being slashed, wildfire costs for suppression and damages are soaring. The federal government typically spends more than one billion dollars annually on responding to fires on both public and pri- vate land. In fact, the bulk of suppression costs goes to protecting homes, infrastruc- ture, and other community amenities in the WUI (Headwaters Economics 2009). Losses associated with fires occurring on municipal lands also cost local governments millions of dollars annually (Thomas and Butry 2012). In addition, the impacts to our commu- nities play out in other tragic ways. A recent illustration is the historic 2oii fire season in Texas. At its peak last October, nearly 97 per- cent of the state was experiencing extreme or exceptional drought. This was preceded by 12 months of record -breaking tempera- tures and the driest period on record since the state began record keeping in the late 19th century. The extreme heat and dry conditions resulted in wildfires throughout Texas that burned nearly four million acres of land, destroyed nearly 3,00o homes, and claimed io lives. Major disaster declarations were made for 52 counties. Damage from the fires was estimated at roughly a half -billion dollars (Dutzik and Willcox 2012). Texas is not alone. Trends throughout the country remind us that many different regions are facing prolonged droughts, lon- ger and hotter summers, a rising number of climate -related threats to forest health such as pine beetle infestation, and the limited ability to manage landscapes —all of which can significantly increase wildfire risk (Bachelet et al. 2007). As communi- ties push for strong economic, social, and environmentally responsible agendas, we should not be caught off guard by the next wildfire disaster. We know fires will con- tinue to happen; the question is, how can we reduce wildfire threat to communities living close to nature and enjoying its ben- efits without causing harm and compromis- ing safety? The National Fire Protection Association (NFPA), a nonprofit organization whose mis- sion since 1896 has focused on protecting lives and property from fire, has made it a priority to answer this question. For the past 25 years NFPA has been engaged with ZONINGPRACTICE 5.12 AMERICAN PLANNING ASSOCIATION I page 2