The Great Western Experiment

I suppose there have been dozens of weird experiments over the years in the American West. Few are as likely to end in disaster as the one correctly identified by the New York Times today: people deciding to live at the edge of national forests. The fire near Lake Tahoe that has destroyed over 200 homes is the latest slap in the face to Americans who remain blithely oblivious to the environment around them. Fire? That can´t happen to me! Yes, it can.

This reminds me of the aftermath from probably the millennium´s first great western fire, the Cerro Grande fire that swallowed up a big chunk of Los Alamos, New Mexico. People were on the news, devastated that such an event would attack them in their own back yard. Of course, their back yard was literally a national forest. But hey, it´s my back yard! In the aftermath of that fire, an engineer friend of mine had a punch thrown at him in a public meeting because he stated that Los Alamos residents were going to have to start living on roads that were both big enough for fire trucks to drive along easily and would have more than one way out in case they were caught by fire. This infuriated people who didn´t want their Eden spoiled by reality.

It´s not just fires that threaten these communities. Let´s move ahead in time to about 2025 or so. Most of the people building second homes or retirement homes in the West are in their 50s and 60s. In about 20 years, they are going to need serious health care. Where is that going to come from? In communities dominated by these retirees, levies frequently fail. They have no interest in supporting education or public services because their children are grown and they have enough money to support themselves. But they don´t think about medical care. Without any sort of local hospital, the nearest medical care can be 50 miles away. That´s an awful long ways for an ambulance to come if you are having a heart attack or stroke.

Since these communities have long been sparsely populated, local people have organized their own public services. Volunteer fire fighting is an excellent example. Do you think these amenity migrants are volunteering for fire fighting? Hell, no. With property values and taxes going through the roof, the locals who had long supported these community functions are moving on to, leaving a gaping hole.

What to do? First, let the fires burn. If you are going to build out there, it is your responsibility to take care of your place. It should not fall on taxpayers to bail out rich amenity migrants. At the very least, lightning caused fires should be able to burn naturally, regardless of what homes are in the way. This will create healthier forests and undermine destructive fires in the long run. Second, FEMA should seriously limit its handouts to fire victims. This is especially true if you don´t cut down the trees around your house. If you do cut those trees down, your chances of having your house go are cut immensely, because the fuel load is so reduced. Of course, you also lose some of your forest hideaway. Boo hoo!