New Development In Scenic West Creates Catastrophic Fire Risk

A new generation of Americans...in moving to places perched on the edge of vast, undeveloped government lands in the West, are living out a dangerous experiment, many of them ignorant of the risk.

Their migration...has coincided with profound environmental changes that have worsened the fire hazard, including years of drought, record-setting heat and forest management policies that have allowed brush and dead trees to build up."

"But now federal agencies at the front lines of defending these new communities from peril are starting to say enough is enough...[tt] is becoming too expensive to protect with so many people pushing up against the fringes."

"...federally owned public lands continue to attract more people as they evolve into something they were never intended to be: a real-estate amenity. As golf courses were to a past development wave,"

"Some residents in the high-risk areas worry that the federal government will be tempted to pass the problem along to local governments or homeowners...Truth be told, the nation's founders would probably be shocked that the government was still in the land or firefighting business."

"For most of the past century, the government's policy of fighting fires on that land was single-minded: if it burns, put it out and figure the costs later. So the natural fire cycle that cleans out the undergrowth and dying trees broke down, and combustibles began to mount."