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Natural Hazards

  • Communities Threatened by Wildfires, 2000-2017

    Communities Threatened by Wildfires, 2000-2017

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    Explore all communities threatened by wildfires from 2000 to 2017. Read more

  • Communities Threatened by Wildfire, 2000-2017: Sortable Table

    Communities Threatened by Wildfire, 2000-2017: Sortable Table

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    The sortable table identifies frequently threatened towns and cities, including the different sizes and distances of wildfires from nearby communities. Read more

  • Assessing Wildfire and Populations at Risk

    Assessing Wildfire and Populations at Risk

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    A new tool helps the City of Santa Fe, New Mexico assess wildfire and populations at risk. Read more

  • Great Lakes Cities Vulnerability Assessment Tool

    Great Lakes Cities Vulnerability Assessment Tool

    Patricia Hernandez

    Identify neighborhoods in six Great Lakes cities that meet socioeconomic vulnerability criteria. Read more

  • Communities Reduce Wildfire Risk Through Land Use Planning

    Communities Reduce Wildfire Risk Through Land Use Planning

    Kelly Pohl

    Updated: The Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire program now helps 30 communities reduce wildfire risk through improved land use planning. Read more

  • Planning Tools to Reduce Montana’s Wildfire Risk

    Planning Tools to Reduce Montana’s Wildfire Risk

    Kelly Pohl

    County governments, fire districts and service areas, and landowners have many opportunities to reduce wildfire risk in the wildland-urban interface through land use planning tools and strategies, though challenges in Montana’s regulatory framework remain. Read more

  • Disasters and Populations at Risk: Lack of Vehicle Makes Evacuation Difficult

    Disasters and Populations at Risk: Lack of Vehicle Makes Evacuation Difficult

    Megan Lawson, Ph.D.

    Lack of access to a vehicle, poverty, and disabilities, can make evacuation difficult or impossible for some households. Read more

  • Fire & Flood: Lessons from Hurricane Harvey for Wildfire

    Fire & Flood: Lessons from Hurricane Harvey for Wildfire

    Kelly Pohl

    A lack of land use planning amplified the devastation from Hurricane Harvey. Wildfire-prone communities should take note. Read more

  • Resilient Taos County: Living with Wildfire

    Resilient Taos County: Living with Wildfire

    Kelly Pohl

    This story map provides Taos County residents with information about the ecological role of fire, the region’s wildfire risk, forest restoration projects, and emergency preparedness. Read more

  • Wildfire Experts’ Paper Informs Effective Policy

    Wildfire Experts’ Paper Informs Effective Policy

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    Wildfire experts outline key science insights important to inform policy discussions and development while reducing future risks and costs. Read more

  • Tennessee Wildfires: Now Is the Time to Plan

    Tennessee Wildfires: Now Is the Time to Plan

    Kimiko Barrett, Ph.D.

    The wildfires that burned the edge of the Great Smoky Mountains National Park devastated nearby communities and underscore the need to reduce the risks and costs of future catastrophic events. Read more

  • Does Insurance Affect Home Development on Wildfire-Prone Lands?

    Does Insurance Affect Home Development on Wildfire-Prone Lands?

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    It is unlikely that insurance rates and policies alone will determine whether or not a landowner decides to build a new home on wildfire-prone land. Read more

  • Identifying Communities at Risk to Wildfire

    Identifying Communities at Risk to Wildfire

    Kimiko Barrett, Ph.D.

    Mapping and understanding communities at risk from wildfires just became easier with a new interactive tool generated by Headwaters Economics. Read more

  • Summary: Wildfire Costs, New Development, and Rising Temperatures

    Summary: Wildfire Costs, New Development, and Rising Temperatures

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    This summary highlights the major research Headwaters Economics has conducted concerning controlling fire suppression costs, state case studies, and the growth of homes in the WUI. Read more

  • Rising Wildfire Costs Encourage Better Land Use Planning

    Rising Wildfire Costs Encourage Better Land Use Planning

    Kimiko Barrett, Ph.D.

    Five urban areas in the West and Southwest are taking steps to mitigate wildfire risks and costs through the perspective of land use planning. Read more

  • Land Use Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk

    Land Use Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk

    Kimiko Barrett, Ph.D.

    Case studies show how five urban areas in the West are using innovative land use planning tools to adapt to the increasing risks from wildfires. Read more

  • Home Construction in the High Divide

    Home Construction in the High Divide

    Patricia Hernandez

    The High Divide region, recognized as one of the most intact biological areas in the lower 48 states, is attracting many new residents and home construction is changing the landscape. Read more

  • Wildfire Increasingly an Urban Issue

    Wildfire Increasingly an Urban Issue

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    Wildfires increasingly are threatening urban areas—often repeatedly—putting more homes, lives, infrastructure, and other resources at risk. Read more

  • Reducing Wildfire Risk to Communities: Nine Solutions

    Reducing Wildfire Risk to Communities: Nine Solutions

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    This report outlines a number of solutions to alter the pace, scale, and pattern of future development in the Wildland-Urban Interface. Read more

  • Better Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk: A Summit County Case Study and Lessons for Other Communities

    Better Planning to Reduce Wildfire Risk: A Summit County Case Study and Lessons for Other Communities

    Ray Rasker, Ph.D.

    Wildfires pose a growing threat to many communities. As more development occurs near wildfire-prone lands, there is a growing need to reduce risk through improved land use policies and tools. Read more

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