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Over the course of this year, the West has watched as newly-remote workers flee cities and head for the West to enjoy the outdoor lifestyles that make our region special. However, the pandemic-fueled real estate boom has begun pricing out locals from desirable mountain towns, driving housing shortages that have cascading impacts across local communities.
Wealth inequality and housing problems aren't a new phenomenon in resort towns like Telluride, Colorado or Jackson, Wyoming. However, those issues are getting worse. In response, some mountain towns are trying to slow the growth of short-term rentals to ease housing and labor shortages. One proposed solution is a vacancy tax, which adds a tax onto residential properties that are vacant for a certain amount of the year. While a vacancy tax could certainly help ease shortages, short-term rental owners are pushing back, pointing out that such rentals help drive the booming outdoor recreation economies that prop up the community.
The booming housing market across the West—partially driven by the COVID-19 Zoom boom—doesn't just impact livability and wealth inequality. It also imperils ecosystems and land conservation, raising the question of what the West will look like as it evolves into the future.
The rapid rate of Western development could mean trouble for big-game migrations as prime habitat is snapped up. “It’s death by a thousand cuts, it’s not one big project it’s a bunch of tiny projects, they are approved at the individual level and are not looked at cumulatively,” says Rick Ward the Deer and Elk Program Coordinator at Idaho Fish and Game. “By the time you can recognize that there has been an impact, it’s too late.”
At the same time, skyrocketing real estate prices are imperiling private land conservation efforts. In the past, local county taxes have helped preserve high-impact land parcels near urban areas. Now, properties are too expensive and land conservancies are seeing major conservation funders walking away from high-priority projects based on the price of land.
It seems likely that Western development will continue to skyrocket. As people move into the region, there is an opportunity for Westerners to re-think how we plan our communities. Research has found that urban areas can help protect more biodiversity than previously realized, as long as they are planned appropriately. In order to prevent sprawl from rapidly impacting the landscapes and wildlife that make the West special, cities and towns will need to rapidly look toward solutions like zoning changes, higher-density development, and natural spaces integrated into the fabric of our built environment.
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The irresponsible actions of the [Montana] legislature, the governor, and the Fish & Wildlife Commission are destroying FWP’s reputation as one of the finest and most professional state wildlife agencies in the country, are undermining Montana’s past conservation achievements, and jeopardizing FWP’s credibility and ability to manage Montana’s wildlife resources in a responsible and ethical manner... Their short-sighted efforts almost guarantee relisting of wolves and loss of state directed wildlife management... Montana deserves better!
