Look West: Public lands and energy news from the Center for Western Priorities


** California rewards homeowners who mitigate wildfire risk
------------------------------------------------------------
Tuesday, October 18, 2022
Wildfire in Santa Clarita, California, 2007. Wikimedia Commons ([link removed])

California will require insurance companies to provide discounts to homeowners who make their houses safer from wildfires ([link removed]) , possibly setting an example for other states and communities facing skyrocketing insurance costs driven by climate change.

The new rules, which go into effect later this year, require insurance companies to provide property owners with a "wildfire risk score" that can be appealed by policyholders. The state's insurance commissioner said homeowners had complained that companies weren't acknowledging steps to increase fire resiliency, like clearing defensible space and using fire-resistant roofing material.

According to the Los Angeles Times ([link removed]) , more than 6,800 wildfires have burned in California this year, killing nine people and destroying nearly 900 structures.
Quick hits


** Thousands evacuated as Washington wildfire burns out of control
------------------------------------------------------------

NBC News ([link removed]) | New York Times ([link removed]) | KING 5 ([link removed]) | Axios ([link removed])


** Haaland launches public comment period for Thompson Divide mineral withdrawal
------------------------------------------------------------

Grand Junction Daily Sentinel ([link removed])


** Montana approves purchase of 6,000 acres in Big Snowy Mountains, increasing access to public land
------------------------------------------------------------

Montana Public Radio ([link removed]) | Helena Independent Record ([link removed])


** How big coal companies shed their obligations to clean up old mines
------------------------------------------------------------

Bloomberg ([link removed]) | NPR ([link removed])


** Fracking baron Harold Hamm takes Continental Resources private
------------------------------------------------------------

Wall Street Journal ([link removed])


** Hundreds of sheriffs think they're more powerful than the president
------------------------------------------------------------

The Marshall Project ([link removed])


** Has New Mexico 'privatized' its elk herd?
------------------------------------------------------------

MeatEater ([link removed])


** Yellowstone reopens entrance devastated by June floods
------------------------------------------------------------

NPR ([link removed])
Quote of the day
” It’s like they say, ‘I'm going to give all these liabilities to my destitute neighbor.’ You can't imagine that cleanup will actually happen.”
—Josh Macey, former Yale Law Student and author of Stanford Law Review article 'Bankruptcy as Bailout ([link removed]) ,' to Bloomberg News ([link removed])
Picture this


** @usinterior ([link removed])
------------------------------------------------------------
“I'm so glad I live in a world where there are Octobers.” — L. M. Montgomery

Photo @grandtetonnps ([link removed]) by Adam Jewell

============================================================
** 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])