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High Country Resource Conservation and Development (RC&D) Council Local People Solving Local Problems |
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More Information
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Idaho Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
To learn more about what has been done in 2008-2012 East Idaho's BLM Wild Fire Program please read our 5 year report attached to the left.
High Country, with generous long-term funding through BLM’s Community Fire Assistance Program and other partners, have developed an educational program for homeowners and homeowner associations (HOAs).
In 2013 we will be implementing a cost-share program for land owners to complete fuels reduction. It has an incentive built in, which encourages neighbors to participate together in the project.
"If you have chosen to live in the wildland urban interface, you have assumed the risk and responsibility to protect your family, home, property, and surrounding environment from wildfire. Do not expect firefighters to risk their lives to protect a home where the owner has not taken the risk of wildfire seriously and hasn’t created a fire resistant buffer and provided for safe access to the property."
Click here to view Idaho's Current Fire Danger: http://www.fs.fed.us/land/wfas/fd_class.png
Why should I care? For over a century, people have suppressed natural fires because they “get in the way” of human land-use and aesthetics. As a result, excess vegetation (fuels) has been accumulating in the WUI creating an environment conducive to destructive fires.
If your home or property is nestled among trees, junipers, sage, or other dangerous fuels, you are in the path of a potentially destructive fire. Even homes and properties a mile away from the actual flames can be negatively affected.
When wildfires threaten homes there is not enough time to move all valuables, livestock, and
other
belongings to a safer place. Not to
mention,
some insurance companies are wising up to the liability of homes in the WUI with little or no protection from wildfire.
What
Can I Do?
As private landowners living in the WUI, you have a responsibility to reduce hazardous fuels on your property. Many believe this involves removing all of the trees and other vegetation by stripping property to bare ground. Although, bare ground may be an effective means of reducing the threat of fire, it is not aesthetically pleasing and can cause severe soil erosion. Instead, when creating a wildfire defensible space, remove or thin only that vegetative material that can threaten your home, consider fire resistant construction materials, and don’t locate combustibles such as propane tanks and wood piles next to structures.
For more information on what you can do to protect your home against wildland fires, or to learn more about efforts to reduce fuels in the WUI, please contact your local fire department.
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