“It takes state and federal agencies working on the ground with the community to make sure they both understand the risk, and — very importantly — that they have the tools and resources they need to do something about it,” said Kristin Smith, a lead researcher for Headwaters Economics.
Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit group in Montana, published an analysis finding that existing public land could support less than 700,000 new homes; Nicholas Irwin, the research director for the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Lied Center for Real Estate, said he found Headwaters’ numbers more convincing.
Some studies have shown that using fire-resistant materials to build homes in fact does not add cost, and can even be less expensive. The research is led by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group specializing in community development and land use topics.
But a new analysis from Headwaters Economics and the Federation of American Scientists shows extreme heat impacts rural areas just as much as it does urban areas.
A 2022 report by IBHS and Headwaters Economics, a Montana-based research institute, found that wildfire-resistant construction adds from 2% to 13% to the cost of a new home in California, with the upper cost here going well above current required codes.
A recent study from Hispanic Access Foundation and Headwaters Economics shows Latinos in the U.S. face a disproportionately high flood risk. Some 44% live in high-risk counties, compared to 35% of non-Latinos.
Compared to urban dwellers, rural Americans are twice as likely to have pre-existing health issues like diabetes that exacerbate the dangers of extreme heat, according to the Headwaters Economics report.
A report from Headwaters Economics and the Federation of American Scientists found that more than half of rural zip codes in the United States, which includes some 11.5 million Americans, have “high” heat vulnerability.
Headwaters Economics concluded that transferring public land would do little to solve the nation’s housing shortage.
A 2017 study by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group, found that Western rural counties with more public land have had greater economic growth, including in jobs and personal income, than those with little public land.
However, research by Headwaters Economics — the same independent firm advising Coconino County on wildfire risk and homeowner’s insurance — shows that only a small proportion of federally owned land is suitable for building affordable housing.
A recent Headwaters Economics report found only a small percentage (less than 2%) of public lands in the West near towns with increased housing demand are practical for development, and could be complicated due to high wildfire risk.
A similar report from Headwaters Economics found that only 0.2 percent of BLM or Forest Service land is within 5 miles of towns with high demand for housing.
There are no BLM-owned parcels in Oregon, Washington or Idaho large enough to justify housing development, according to an analysis by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit community development research group based in Montana.
A recent analysis by Headwaters Economics found that public land transfers offer little promise as a housing solution.
In 2017, Dawson County and the City of Glendive asked the Army Corps for help, and started meeting and planning with local partner, research nonprofit Headwaters Economics, in 2021.
A 2017 study by Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research group, found that Western rural counties with more public land have had greater economic growth, including in jobs and personal income, than those with little public land.
“We do know that many of the most effective home-hardening risk-reduction strategies are also the most affordable,” said Kimiko Barrett, a wildfire policy expert at Headwaters Economics, a nonprofit research organization that has studied hardening and helps maintain the Forest Service tool.
“This doesn’t mean we need to live in concrete bunkers,” said Kimiko Barrett, a Headwaters Economics wildfire research and policy analyst. “It means using the best available materials, engineering and science to withstand a wildfire. These are the homes of the future.”
A 2020 report from Headwaters Economics looked at home building trends in wildfire hazard areas from 1990 to 2016, focusing on 25 counties in the western half of the state where wildfire data was most consistent.
