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Media Coverage

Recent press coverage of research by Headwaters Economics.

The Guardian

 Can America’s low-cost mobile homes withstand the climate crisis?

Published by The Guardian on December 16, 2022

In her research with the non-profit Headwaters Economics, [Dr. Kristin] Smith found that more than one in five mobile homes in Montana are situated in high flood risk neighborhoods – something that the state has been waking up to.

Related research
  • Yellowstone Flood reveals Montana’s mobile home flood risk
  • Mobile home residents face higher flood risk
  • Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants

 Share of rent-burdened households drops in Montana, Census Bureau says

Published by Yellowstone Public Radio on December 13, 2022

That came as a surprise to economist Megan Lawson with Headwaters Economics in Bozeman, who examined the five-year data.

“Rents increased over that time period across the state, but incomes increased more,” Lawson said.

Related research
  • Housing costs broke records across the U.S.
  • Unaffordability for renters made worse during the pandemic
Marketplace

 Wildfires are more frequent, getting worse — and straining government budgets

Published by Marketplace on December 12, 2022

“For many, many years and decades, really those other costs that come to the surface following a wildfire event have been overlooked,” said Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire researcher and policy lead at Headwaters Economics in Montana.

Related research
  • The unequal impacts of wildfire
  • Wildfires destroy thousands of structures each year

 Millions of homes are being built in fire-prone areas of Mountain West as wildfire risks grow

Published by KUNR Public Radio on November 28, 2022

“It’s concerning the fact that we continue to grow in high wildfire risk areas, rebuild in high wildfire risk areas, assuming that a wildfire won’t occur,” said Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire researcher with the Montana-based research group Headwaters Economics.

Related research
  • The unequal impacts of wildfire
  • Building a Wildfire-Resistant Home: Codes and Costs
The New York Times

 It’s Public Land. But the Public Can’t Reach It. Edit

Published by The New York Times on November 26, 2022

“That would affect more than wealthy landowners, said Megan Lawson of Headwaters Economics, a community development nonprofit in Bozeman, Mont.

“Amenity economies depend on guiding services, lodging and hospitality in general,” Ms. Lawson said. “That’s the lifeblood of the economy in several states.”

Related research
  • Innovative New Ways to Count Outdoor Recreation
  • The Future of the Outdoor Recreation Economy
  • The Outdoor Recreation Economy by State

 Colorado wildfire was most costly in the region

Published by Aspen Public Radio on November 1, 2022

Wildfire Researcher Kimiko Barrett with Headwaters Economics says those homes were built close together and had high property values, increasing insurance claims.

She says urban areas traditionally thought of as safe from wildfires are more exposed as fires intensify.

“It’s entire neighborhoods being burned, in some cases hundreds, if not thousands, of structures being lost in one wildfire,” she said. “These trends unfortunately are going to increase because the risks are increasing across the board.”

Related research
  • Construction costs for a wildfire-resistant home: California edition
  • Wood roofs are a $6 billion wildfire problem
  • The unequal impacts of wildfire

 Mountain West housing markets may be cooling down 

Published by Wyoming Public Radio on October 19, 2022

“In the last few months, the Fed has been raising interest rates,” said Megan Lawson, an economist with Headwaters Economics. “And that’s slowing down new home purchases because borrowing costs are just more expensive.”

Related research
  • Housing costs broke records across the U.S.

 Making room for the river: Communities look at nature-based solutions

Published by Northern Public Radio on October 6, 2022

So far, Mississippi River communities have also received a smaller percentage of BRIC dollars than coastal states, according to a Headwaters Economics analysis.

Related research
  • A rural capacity map
  • Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants
Center For American Progress

 How To Improve Community Wildfire Defense Grants To Build Rural Resilience

Published by Center for American Progress on

Organizations such as Headwaters Economics have developed tools for federal agencies to identify at-risk populations and have begun exploring data that can measure capacity. These creative and innovative tools may be useful to a range of communities that are often missed by traditional measures of income and vulnerability.

Related research
  • Neighborhoods at Risk
  • A rural capacity map
knpr icon

 A breakdown of the big bucks visitors spend at national parks

Published by Nevada Public Radio on September 21, 2022

Montana-based nonprofit research group Headwaters Economics compiles National Park Service data annually, and this week it published data showing that NPS units — which can include national monuments, forts, historical locations, parks and preserves — saw a big surge in visitors from 2020 to 2021.

Related research
  • Economic Impact of National Parks
KJZZ logo

 Experts say it’s time to think beyond battling wildfires — and find a way to live with them

Published by KJZZ on

“Currently, at the federal level, through the land management agencies — primarily the U.S. Forest Service — we’re spending $65 million per wildfire, which is doubling the cost since 1999,” said Kimi Barrett, a wildfire and policy analyst with Headwaters Economics, a nonpartisan independent research organization based in Bozeman, Montana.

Related research
  • Living with wildfire
High Country News

 When a housing crisis meets a megaflood

Published by High Country News on September 20, 2022

Kris Smith, a researcher at Bozeman-based Headwaters Economics, said that when the flood hit, one of her first thoughts was: “What’s going to be the plan for making sure that we’re not worsening the housing crisis that we know is already existing in Montana?”

Related research
  • Yellowstone Flood reveals Montana’s mobile home flood risk
Missoulian

 Precarious living: MT mobile home residents face eviction, rising rents, flood threats

Published by Missoulian on September 19, 2022

A report by Headwaters Economics in Bozeman recently found that throughout Montana, 20% of all mobile homes are in a neighborhood with a high flood risk, compared with 14% in America. The study found Montana’s mobile homes have a higher flood risk than mobile homes in other places in the U.S. Montana ranks fifth in the nation for neighborhoods that have both high flood risk and high mobile home density.

Related research
  • Yellowstone Flood reveals Montana’s mobile home flood risk
  • Mobile home residents face higher flood risk
CNN logo

 Biden’s Delaware vacation home faces ‘extreme’ flood risk as climate change leads to rising seas

Published by CNN on September 13, 2022

“Elevating homes can be pricey, and it’s easier to make the money work when properties have higher value,” said Kristin Smith, a researcher with the nonprofit Headwaters Economics. That can end up excluding “some of the people who need help the most,” especially in low-income areas, she said.

Related research
  • Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants
The New York Times

 As Wildfires Grow, Millions of Homes Are Being Built in Harm’s Way

Published by New York Times on September 9, 2022

“Too many places are still operating under the mind-set that they can keep building in high-risk areas and if there’s a wildfire, the firefighters will come and save their homes,” said Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire researcher at Headwaters Economics.

Related research
  • Wildfires destroy thousands of structures each year
In Business Madison logo

 Madison among the best places for remote work and enjoying the outdoors

Published by InBusiness Madison on September 6, 2022

A 2020 study by Headwaters Economics, commissioned by the Department of Tourism, showed that Wisconsin’s $7.8 billion outdoor economy grew by 12%, compared to 7% growth by the state’s overall economy during the summer of 2020 when the COVID pandemic was raging.

Related research
  • Outdoor Recreation: A top driver of Wisconsin’s economy
  • The Outdoor Recreation Economy by State

 Western wildfires are increasingly destroying structures, analysis shows

Published by Wyoming Pubic Media on August 31, 2022

Headwaters Economics, a non-profit research group based in Montana, published an interactive data tool that shows the number of structures lost in every state from 2005 through June 2022. New Mexico saw 2,000 structures destroyed by wildfires, with nearly half of those burned this year. In Wyoming and Colorado, about half of the damage during that time frame has come in recent years.

Related research
  • Wildfires destroy thousands of structures each year
Market Watch

 A retirement town destroyed by fire highlights climate risks to older adults

Published by MarketWatch on August 29, 2022

Since the Camp Fire, state and local authorities have tightened requirements for “fire-hardened” homes, but most standards apply only to new construction, according to Kimiko Barrett, of the Bozeman, Montana-based Headwaters Economics.

Related research
  • Construction costs for a wildfire-resistant home: California edition
  • Wood roofs are a $6 billion wildfire problem
The Hill

 A push for wildfire-resilient homes

Published by The Hill on August 12, 2022

When a home is built to be more resilient against environmental hazards, additional expenses can be expected. The cost of wildfire resilient measures can vary, depending upon the location, risk exposure, building size and features, as well as other factors. According to a report co-authored by IBHS and Headwaters Economics, it may add as little as $2,800 to the cost of building a new wildfire-resistant home in California.

Related research
  • Construction costs for a wildfire-resistant home: California edition
  • Full Community Costs of Wildfire
E&E News

 Coastal states get majority of FEMA hazard grants — again

Published by E&E News on August 10, 2022

“BRIC is intended to fund big, visionary projects that take a lot of money,” said Kristin Smith, a researcher at Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research organization in Montana. “Those are exactly the kind of projects that many lower-capacity rural places just do not have the resources to put together.”

Related research
  • Capacity-limited states still struggle to access FEMA BRIC grants
  • A rural capacity map
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