Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities
** Oregon faces the reality of rebuilding after wildfire
------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, April 19, 2022
The Ponina Fire in Oregon burned on April 18, 2021. Photo by Oregon Department of Forestry ([link removed])
The state of Oregon is in the process of mapping wildfire risk on every tax lot in the state—a map that will have major consequences for property owners and developers as the state faces a climate reality with even more fires in the future.
OPB News looked at the mapping process ([link removed]) and public comment period which will formally define the state's wildland-urban interface, or WUI. Lots in extreme or high risk areas will be subject to new building and zoning codes that were passed as part of a wildfire preparedness package ([link removed]) in the wake of fires that burned more than 4,000 homes in 2020.
“There are opposing views,” said Derek Gasperini with the Oregon Department of Forestry. “There are those that want a very small WUI because folks don’t want to be subject to regulation whatever that might look like. There are also folks who do want to be in the WUI because there are grants available to help people pay for home hardening requirements.”
The state estimates that of roughly 900,000 tax lots in the wildland-urban interface, 230,000 may end up classified as extreme or high wildfire risk. The risk map will be completed by the end of June.
Quick hits
** Ranchers work to mitigate climate change as the Colorado River dries up
------------------------------------------------------------
ABC News ([link removed])
** Nebraska governor signs law to start work on $500 million canal to divert water from Colorado
------------------------------------------------------------
Colorado Sun ([link removed])
** Interior Secretary Haaland travels to Alaska this week to ‘listen and learn’
------------------------------------------------------------
Anchorage Daily News ([link removed])
** Inside Biden's Council on Environmental Quality
------------------------------------------------------------
E&E News ([link removed])
** CWP analysis finds more oil and gas spills in New Mexico as economy recovers; what can the state do?
------------------------------------------------------------
Carlsbad Current-Argus ([link removed])
** Biden administration restarts lease sales—with a single parcel in Utah
------------------------------------------------------------
Salt Lake Tribune ([link removed]) | Marketplace ([link removed])
** Mike Lee's new bill would turn public lands into housing developments
------------------------------------------------------------
KUER ([link removed]) | MeatEater ([link removed])
** How drones are helping replant wildfire-scarred landscapes
------------------------------------------------------------
The Verge ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” You know, what they’re trying to do is a sort of a carefully balanced step here. They’re not having a lockdown, a total lockdown of any new oil and gas leasing. But they’re also signaling that it’s a new day.”
—Former Interior Department General Counsel John Leshy, Marketplace ([link removed])
Picture this
** @YellowstoneNPS ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
Since 2019, in coordination with Tribal Nations and our federal, state, and nonprofit partners, the Yellowstone Bison Conservation Transfer Program has transferred 182 brucellosis-free bison to the Fort Peck Tribes. #sParkCollaboration ([link removed]) #NationalParkWeek ([link removed])
============================================================
** Twitter ([link removed])
** Facebook ([link removed])
** Medium ([link removed])
** Instagram ([link removed])
Copyright © 2022 Center for Western Priorities, All rights reserved.
You've signed up to receive Look West updates.
Center for Western Priorities
1999 Broadway
Suite 520
Denver, CO 80202
USA
** View this on the web ([link removed])
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
