By Ray Rasker, Headwaters Economics— The struggle of American settlers to overcome the occasional ravages of Mother Nature — floods, hurricanes, wildfires, and other massive natural events — is an enduring legacy and part of our national heritage.
For many years, the sparse population of the interior West, where most wildfires occur, meant that forest fires did not receive the same level of attention as other natural disasters.
Times, however, are changing — and Coloradans know this first-hand. The Waldo Canyon fire near Colorado Springs area destroyed at least 386 homes, killed two people, and was the most destructive in state history.
Colorado is not alone. Oregon had its largest fire in state history in July. Montana and Wyoming had record fire years, and nationally more than 9 million acres burned this year. For comparison, in the 1960s, on average 4.5 million acres burned each year. From 2002 through 2011, the average was 7 million acres.
A combination of factors — warming temperatures, longer, more intense fire seasons, a rapidly growing population — have dramatically increased the cost and risk from wildfires. Now is the time to enact sensible policies that improve safety and hold down taxpayer expenses.…