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<div><font face="Arial">USDA Office of Communications. Sept. 10,
2015<br>
<br>
Release No. 0250.15<br>
Contact:<br>
Office of Communications<u> (202)720-4623</u><br>
<br>
As Wildfires Continue to Burn, New Maps Shows Expansion of
Wildland-Urban Interface<br>
<br>
<i>Growth in development raises costs and danger of fighting
wildfires,</i><br>
<i>highlights need for funding fix</i><br>
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To download a copy of this publication, visit the<u> Northern Research
Station's</u> website.<br>
<u>http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/pubs/48642</u></font><br>
<font face="Arial"></font></div>
<div><font face="Arial">"The expanding wildland urban interface
is a critical issue for wildland firefighting and for the conservation
of our forests," said Robert Bonnie.</font></div>
<div><font
face="Arial"
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>
<br>
WASHINGTON, Sept. 10, 2015 - A new U.S. Forest Service report shows
the continued expansion of housing development near forests, an area
referred to as the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI), with direct
implications for the cost of wildfire fighting. Increasing densities
of people and infrastructure in the WUI makes wildfire management more
complex and requires more firefighting assets to ensure an
appropriate, safe and effective response, which in turn drives up the
cost of fighting wildfires. Expansion of the WUI has direct
implications for wildfire management as more of the Forest Service's
resources are spent each year to provide the firefighters, aircraft
and other assets necessary to protect lives, property and natural
resources in the wildland urban interface regions. In addition,
overall fire seasons have grown longer, and the frequency, size and
severity of wildland fires has increased.<br>
<br>
In recent decades, research has shown a steady increase in the area
that is part of the WUI, as documented and visually depicted in a new
publication titled, "<u>The 2010 Wildland-Urban Interface of the
Conterminous United States</u>." The percent of homes in the WUI
increased by over five percent between 2000 and 2010 (latest data
available). As of 2010, the WUI of the lower 48 states includes about
44 million houses, equivalent to one in every three houses in the
country, with the highest concentrations of houses in the WUI in
California, Texas and Florida. The publication includes new,
high-resolution maps showing housing density, land ownership, land
cover and wildland vegetation cover for each state.<br>
<br>
"The expanding wildland urban interface is a critical issue for
wildland firefighting and for the conservation of our forests,"
said Robert Bonnie. "More people, homes, and infrastructure are
at risk than ever before. As the WUI grows, our fire fighters must
commit greater resources to protect homes and property which
dramatically increases the cost of fire suppression."<br>
<br>
The cost of wildfire suppression reached a record $243 in a one week
period during the height of suppression activity in late August. In
2015, 52% of the Forest Service budget was set aside for fire
suppression, up from 16% in 1995. By September 2015, the Forest
Service had already exceeded the funding set aside for fire
suppression and was forced to borrow funds meant for other Forest
Service activities. The bipartisan Wildfire Disaster Funding Act,
already introduced in the House and Senate, is an important step
forward in addressing the funding problems. The proposed legislation,
which mirrors a similar proposal in President Obama's Fiscal Year 2016
Budget, would provide a fiscally responsible mechanism to treat
wildfires more like other natural disasters, end "fire transfers"
and partially replenish the ability to restore resilient forests and
protect against future fire outbreaks.<br>
<br>
While WUI expansion has increased the likelihood that wildfire will
threaten structures and people and increase the number of people
affected by wildfire, not all WUI acres are at high risk of wildfire
or the only management concern. Increased risk of invasive species and
disruption of wildlife and ecosystem processes often accompany human
habitation, making the WUI maps an important guide in conservation
work.</font></div>
<div><font face="Arial"><br>
To download a copy of this publication, visit the<u> Northern Research
Station's</u> website.<br>
<br>
The mission of the Forest Service, part of the U.S. Department of
Agriculture, is to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of
the Nation's forests and grasslands to meet the needs of present and
future generations. The agency manages 193 million acres of public
land, provides assistance to state and private landowners, and
maintains the largest forestry research organization in the world.
Public lands the Forest Service manages contribute more than $13
billion to the economy each year through visitor spending alone. Those
same lands provide 20 percent of the Nation's clean water supply, a
value estimated at $7.2 billion per year. The agency has either a
direct or indirect role in stewardship of about 80 percent of the 850
million forested acres within the U.S., of which 100 million acres are
urban forests where most Americans live.<br>
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</font></font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-1"
color="#000000"><i
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^<span
></span>^^^^^^^<br>
Behind complexity, there is always simplicity to be revealed. Inside
simplicity, there is always complexity to be discovered."<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-1"
color="#000000">-Gang Yu</font><font face="Arial" size="-1"
color="#757575"><br>
</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-1"
color="#000000"
>-------------------------------------------------------------<br>
"? energy consumption in 1960 was about half what it is now ?.
Surely we had a civilized country then, with roads, electricity,
entertainment, and so on. ?. Have we, by doubling our energy
consumption, doubled our happiness?"</font><font face="Arial"
size="-1" color="#757575"><br>
</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-1" color="#000000">Kimon
Valaskakis, Peter S. Sindell, J. Graham Smith, and Iris
Fitzpatrick-Martin.<i> The Conserver Society.</i> 1970. Harper &
Row.<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" size="-1" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-1"
color="#000000"></font></div>
<x-sigsep><pre>--
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<div><font face="Bookman Old Style" size="-1"
color="#000000"><i
>^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^<span
></span>^^^^^^^<br>
</i></font><font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000"><i>Behind
complexity, there is always simplicity to be revealed. Inside
simplicity, there is always complexity to be discovered."<br>
</i></font><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">-Gang
Yu</font></div>
<div><font face="Bookman Old Style"
color="#000000"
>-------------------------------------------------------------<br>
"Š energy consumption in 1960 was about half what it is now
Š. Surely we had a civilized country then, with roads, electricity,
entertainment, and so on. Š. Have we, by doubling our energy
consumption, doubled our happiness?"</font><br>
<font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000"></font></div>
<div><font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000">Kimon Valaskakis,
Peter S. Sindell, J. Graham Smith, and Iris Fitzpatrick-Martin.<i> The
Conserver Society.</i> 1970. Harper & Row.<br>
</font><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Bookman Old Style" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Geneva" color="#000000"><br>
</font></div>
<div><font face="Times New Roman" color="#000000"><br>
</font><font face="Verdana" size="-1" color="#000000"><br>
</font></div>
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