…Every scientific look at the future of wild fire in Idaho and the West predicts larger fires, longer fire seasons as the summers become hotter and drier. Even if every acre of Idaho’s front-country forests, those outside the roadless and wilderness areas, were managed like private or state forests, the overall climatic conditions are expected to burn more forests.
Add to that the continued development of homes and cabins into the forests and the costs of firefighting will continue to grow. Protecting private property from forest fires account for 50 percent and 95 percent of all firefighting costs, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Office of Inspector General reported.
A new study by Headwaters Economics shows that 84 percent of private lands near public forests in the West today are undeveloped. This means over the next 50 years the costs of firefighting could explode due to development even if we turned every possible public forest into a managed plantation.…