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42 B.C. Envtl. Aff. L. Rev. 541 (2015)
Free Riders on the Firestorm: How Shifting the Costs of Wildfire Management to Residents of the Wildland-Urban Interface Will Benefit Our Public Forests

handle is hein.journals/bcenv42 and id is 556 raw text is: FREE RIDERS ON THE FIRESTORM: HOW SHIFTING THE COSTS OF WILDFIRE MANAGEMENT TO RESIDENTS OF THE WILDLAND-URBAN INTERFACE WILL BENEFIT OUR PUBLIC FORESTS BENJAMIN REILLY* Abstract: Since the early 1900s, the federal land management agencies-the Forest Service in particular-have focused their wildfire management efforts on suppression. A century of wildfire suppression policy has created a buildup of natural fuels in the Nation's forests that contribute to larger, more damaging fires today. This, coupled with the rapid development of the Wildland-Urban Interface, makes today's wildfires a greater threat to human life and property. As a result, the federal government's annual expenditures for wildfire management have bal- looned in recent years. Relying on the billions of tax dollars spent each year to fight wildfire, individuals have continued to develop property on fire-prone lands and insurers continue to issue them policies with premiums that do not reflect the true risk of wildfire. This situation creates an implicit subsidy for residents of fire-prone lands, which presents many of the same pitfalls as the National Flood Insurance Program's explicit subsidy for residents of flood-prone lands. This Note advocates for a reform of the way we pay for wildfire management. Specif- ically, it encourages the federal government to implement a National Wildfire In- surance Program that employs a homeowner mandate to shift the costs of wild- fire management to those who directly benefit from it: the residents of the Wildland-Urban Interface. INTRODUCTION In the summer of 2013, the Nation's attention was captured by the devas- tation of the Yarnell Hill fire that burned in central Arizona. 1 A lightning strike started the fire, and it was fueled by an extended drought and strong winds.2 It * Executive Notes Editor, BOSTON COLLEGE ENVIRONMENTAL AFFAIRS LAW REVIEW, 2014 2015. 1 See Kirk Siegler, A Tragic Year for WildlandFirefighters Ends in Tragedy, NAT'L PUB. RADIO (Dec. 28, 2013, 9:49 AM), http://www.npr.org/2013/12/28/257771391/a-tragic-year-for-wildland- firefighters-ends-in-reflection, archived at http://perna.cc/HSL7-SYUH (noting that the Yarnell fire captured the Nation's attention to a degree that other fires have not). 2 Jason Samenow, Behind the Weather That Led to the Deadly Yarnell Hill Fire, WASH. POST, July 1, 2013, http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/wp/2013/07/01/the-weather- that-led-to-the-deadly-yarnell-hill-fire/, archived at http://perna.cc/5HSG-K3ML.

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