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| Yes | 51% | 176 votes | Total: 348 votes | |
| No | 49% | 172 votes |
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Add to FavoritesIt is sad to read of all the homes lost during wildfires in the dryer climates but they are not all homes that border government land. I believe if a home is available that borders government land and it fits your needs, you should be able to purchase it. There is always the risk of fires, but that can happen any where-not just boundaries to government land. The fires we read about every summer can start in all kinds of places including kids playing with matches in a dry neighborhood, sparks from faulty wiring, and any number of causes. They do not all start on government land.
Living near government land has more advantages than disadvantages. First of all, you know no one will be building behind you or next to you whichever part of your yard borders the government land. If you like wildlife, you probably will have an abundance of 4 legged or winged visitors that actually live in the protected areas of the government land.
For me, that would be a perfect setting since I am so fond of wild life and appreciate having bear, cougar, raccoons, deer and forest birds as my neighbors. I take care so my cat does not get out of the house so do not have to worry about him being taken by a coyote or scratched up by a raccoon. I love seing the wildlife wander through my yard where I live now but would be even happier if I bordered a government land where the wildlife roams freely and sometimes comes through my yard to see what my garden has for them.
I have seen so many areas the past few years that are burned from careless smokers who throw their lighted cigarett butts out the car window and initiate a fire. I feel any house could be in danger close to a freeway just as much as near government land where a lightning fire or a slash burn gets out of hand. Of course, living in Western Washington, it gets dry, but not as dry as other parts of the USA where grass or range fires burn acres and acres. Last week I was in Eastern Washington where it is much dryer than here. There were hill after hill burned but houses spared. This was private range land, not government land but it still burned due to the sage brush and dry grass. One of these fires started in a farmer's pump house from faulty wiring. With that said, fires can start any where, not just on government land.
My attitude might change if I lived in a drier climate with grass and sage brush rather than green Douglas Fir trees, but I still think if the land is available and someone wants to live there, then they should be allowed to because we always have pending disasters as well as a forest or range fire that could be devastating. I would hope that someone who lives near such an area has the presence of mind to have enough water available to protect their home as much as possible should the inevitable happen. There could be earthquakes, strong winds, and heavy snow or rain or flood damage even if you don't have too much threat of fire damage. We choose where we live and have to take into consideraton the dangers of living there. It does not make sense to me to protect from one danger but forget there are others that could be just as devestating.
Home is where your heart is and one needs to find that place and be aware of the risks but not live in fear. If you are afraid of a place, then that is not the place for you.
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No
Wildfires are a natural, and sometimes necessary, part of the cycle of rebirth and renewal of our national forests and parks. Yellowstone looked as if it was decimated by the wildfires that ravaged it two decades ago; today thousands of young saplings are sprouting up amongst their charred ancestors. It is an incredible sight to see. When wildfires burn, seeds are carried through the winds and are planted so that new trees can grow. The forest is renewing itself, and it must be allowed to do so.
Wildfires traditionally have not affected a large number of people's homes because the West has always been sparsely populated. But population growth and our insatiable hunger for land has led people to build on the very edges of protected forests, the areas that used to act as "buffers" between the protected lands and the populated ones. These new developments are now directly in the path of the wildfires that previously were allowed to follow the course of nature and burn out. Now they must be contained and stopped before the houses encroaching on these lands are destroyed.
It takes a massive amount of manpower and water to contain these fires. This year, Montana and Wyoming have overspent their budgets for wildfire containment in only three months. In addition to the massive expense of fighting these fires, the cost to the water supply in these areas is great as well. Lakes and rivers were at an all-time low this summer in Montana and Wyoming; state officials had to ban fly fishing in the Bitterroot and Clark Fork Rivers in Missoula because the temperatures have been too high, the water levels are too low and the water was needed to fight wildfires. This is draining not only the economies of states like Montana, but water as well, a resource that was never abundant in the West to start with.
People who build their homes on the edge of a national forest or park claim that they love nature. That's wonderful, so do I. But these people have to realize that their choice impacts the wildlife and ecosystem of these forests. People will move into the middle of bear country and complain that there are bears in their backyard. Of course there are bears, you're living in their habitat. You cannot live on the edge of a national forest in a dry area of the West and then be surprised that there are wildfires. We need to take responsibility and change the way we live (and where we live) in our environment, instead of expecting the environment to change for us. And we can't complain when it doesn't.
Learn more about this author, Kim Hausknecht.
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