The city of Paradise is employing a natural hazard mitigation strategy long practiced in flood zones. The idea could be expanded in other places where wildland meets human development.

As wildfires once again rage across the Western United States, NPR's Morning Edition recently returned to Paradise, California, where the 2018 Camp Fire raced through the town, killing 85 people and destroying about 19,000 structures.
To prevent the same tragedy again, Paradise is identifying and buying high risk properties in the Camp Fire burn area. Where willing sellers are found on high risk properties, the city buys the property and transforms the land into fire resistant green spaces.
"The idea is to connect the burnt out lots to the town's existing park land," according to the article. "That's good for adding more recreation but it could also work as a fuel break."
This is not a program relying on eminent domain. So far, the city has "acquired about 300 acres of new land, with about 500 more acres in the pipeline, mostly paid for with non profit grant money and donations."
Dan Efseaff, director of the Paradise Recreation and District, is quoted extensively in the article, including a statement that the city needs $20 million more to have a serious impact on the risk of wildfire.
As noted in the article, the government has been buying back properties in flood areas for decades. "And as the West cooks in extreme drought, there's interest in replicating this in certain high risk fire zones. A change in federal law recently devoted funding to study the feasibility of this in places like the Sierra Nevada, and Paradise is eager for federal support."
For more details of how these private properties can be transformed into fire resistant park space, read an article written recently by Jonah Susskind for the American Society of Landscape Architect's blog. Susskind describes this kind of fire resistant park space as Wildfire Risk Reduction Buffers (WRRBs).
The basic concept ensures that combustible materials and flammable vegetation is cleared from the area immediately around structures, and that certain vegetation management guidelines are followed further out (typically in designated zones between 5 and 100 feet). Essentially, the WRRB idea takes this approach and scales it up to the size of the whole community by ensuring that lower-risk land uses are maintained between developed areas and undeveloped wildlands.
The article also describes an effort by SWA Group to take the concept even further by "using these greenbelts as a spatial framework for reintroducing prescribed fire into the landscape in order to reduce regional fuel loads while simultaneously enhancing the ecological health of densely forested areas."
FULL STORY: In Fire Scorched California, Town Aims To Buy The Highest At-Risk Properties

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

Chicago’s Ghost Rails
Just beneath the surface of the modern city lie the remnants of its expansive early 20th-century streetcar system.

Amtrak Cutting Jobs, Funding to High-Speed Rail
The agency plans to cut 10 percent of its workforce and has confirmed it will not fund new high-speed rail projects.

Ohio Forces Data Centers to Prepay for Power
Utilities are calling on states to hold data center operators responsible for new energy demands to prevent leaving consumers on the hook for their bills.

MARTA CEO Steps Down Amid Citizenship Concerns
MARTA’s board announced Thursday that its chief, who is from Canada, is resigning due to questions about his immigration status.

Silicon Valley ‘Bike Superhighway’ Awarded $14M State Grant
A Caltrans grant brings the 10-mile Central Bikeway project connecting Santa Clara and East San Jose closer to fruition.
Urban Design for Planners 1: Software Tools
This six-course series explores essential urban design concepts using open source software and equips planners with the tools they need to participate fully in the urban design process.
Planning for Universal Design
Learn the tools for implementing Universal Design in planning regulations.
Caltrans
City of Fort Worth
Mpact (founded as Rail~Volution)
City of Camden Redevelopment Agency
City of Astoria
City of Portland
City of Laramie