According to a new report, the large number of people moving to very high fire hazard areas of the Sierra is leading to more wildfires, more taxpayer expense, and more loss of life. The population of the Sierra Nevada range is expected to triple by the year 2040, and new research by the Sierra Nevada Alliance finds that 94 percent of the land slated for rural residential development is classified as very high or extreme fire hazard by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. “The combination of population growth and climate change in our region is creating a ‘perfect firestorm’ where increasing numbers of people and homes will be at greater risk of catastrophic wildfire,” says report author and Alliance Land Use Coordinator Autumn Bernstein. The reports findings include statistics on population growth and recommendations for more responsible community planning in rural areas where fire-fighting resources are scarce. Of the many reasons cited as causes for increasing fire danger, unsafe growth patterns, climate change and decades of fire suppression and logging are considered the top culprits. The report also blames current policy framework and taxpayer subsidies for unsafe growth. Repeated throughout are what the Alliance considers to be the detrimental effects of rampant population growth. Although considerably smaller in scale compared to surrounding counties, Amador County’s population in very high or extreme fire threat areas grew by 3,400 between 1990 and 2000, a 14 percent increase. 100 percent of our counties rural residential land lies within very high or extreme fire threat areas. Proposed solutions include making developers pay their own way, clustering development around existing communities, managing forest landscapes, and improving planning and budgeting processes. But according to Bill Fulton, a California planning expert, these solutions are only temporary. “The fact is that 32 million Californians live in a tinderbox, and with a half-million more per year on the way, it’s impossible to change the situation – unless public officials and the voters who elect them decide they’re willing to pass regulations that would keep people from building in the woods.” The Sierra Nevada Alliance is a network of conservation groups that are based or work in the Sierra Nevada region.
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According to a new report, the large number of people moving to very high fire hazard areas of the Sierra is leading to more wildfires, more taxpayer expense, and more loss of life. The population of the Sierra Nevada range is expected to triple by the year 2040, and new research by the Sierra Nevada Alliance finds that 94 percent of the land slated for rural residential development is classified as very high or extreme fire hazard by the California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection, or CalFire. “The combination of population growth and climate change in our region is creating a ‘perfect firestorm’ where increasing numbers of people and homes will be at greater risk of catastrophic wildfire,” says report author and Alliance Land Use Coordinator Autumn Bernstein. The reports findings include statistics on population growth and recommendations for more responsible community planning in rural areas where fire-fighting resources are scarce. Of the many reasons cited as causes for increasing fire danger, unsafe growth patterns, climate change and decades of fire suppression and logging are considered the top culprits. The report also blames current policy framework and taxpayer subsidies for unsafe growth. Repeated throughout are what the Alliance considers to be the detrimental effects of rampant population growth. Although considerably smaller in scale compared to surrounding counties, Amador County’s population in very high or extreme fire threat areas grew by 3,400 between 1990 and 2000, a 14 percent increase. 100 percent of our counties rural residential land lies within very high or extreme fire threat areas. Proposed solutions include making developers pay their own way, clustering development around existing communities, managing forest landscapes, and improving planning and budgeting processes. But according to Bill Fulton, a California planning expert, these solutions are only temporary. “The fact is that 32 million Californians live in a tinderbox, and with a half-million more per year on the way, it’s impossible to change the situation – unless public officials and the voters who elect them decide they’re willing to pass regulations that would keep people from building in the woods.” The Sierra Nevada Alliance is a network of conservation groups that are based or work in the Sierra Nevada region.
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