Boulder County Commissioners adopt ballot measures for wildfire mitigation, emergency response, and transportation
During public hearings on Thursday (August 4), the Boulder County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously to put forward three ballot measures, which would introduce two new sales and use taxes to fund wildfire mitigation and emergency services and to extend the county’s existing transportation sales tax.
Boulder County Commissioners to consider ballot measures for wildfire mitigation, emergency response, and transportation
In response to growing community interest in wildfire mitigation, the Boulder County Commissioners will be holding a hearing on a new sales tax proposal. The tax would help fund Wildfire Partners and increase the pace and scale of wildfire mitigation efforts across the county. Boulder County residents are encouraged to leave public comments before the hearing on August 4th, 2022 here.
Rocky Mountain Adaptation: Adapting to Climate Change the Colorado Way
In episode 166 of America Adapts, Doug Parsons hosts adaptation experts from Colorado, including Wildfire Partners Program Coordinator Jim Webster. We learn how extreme storm events and Colorado’s unique climate have informed adaptation and resilience planning as well as how Coloradans are quickly learning how to upscale their post-disaster recovery efforts.
Photo by Hart Van DenbergSurvey Results: Boulder County residents in favor of funding for wildfire mitigation and wildland emergency response as well as transportation
Drake Research & Strategy, Inc. presented the results of Boulder County’s annual public opinion survey to the Board of County Commissioners on Tuesday (June 21, 2022). The survey revealed that Boulder County residents are in favor of funding transportation and wildfire mitigation and wildland emergency response through potential ballot measures…
Boulder County residents look to Wildfire Partners’ expertise as wildfire risk continues to spread
Karna Knapp sat outside her home in Nederland soaking up the warm sun while her partner, Lester Karplus, napped inside during a relaxing summer day six years ago.
Knapp was the first to smell the powerful fumes of smoke that afternoon. The smell was soon followed by the blaring sound of sirens.
Photo by Cliff GrassmickWhat does a fire resilient property look like? One Boulder County resident’s home offers a glimpse.
Join ‘geology nut’ Howard Gordon on a guided tour of his Wildfire Partners certified house.
Gordon’s home sits on one of the grassy slopes making up the first layer of the Rocky Mountains. When I visited, the landscape was a late-spring green that promised not to endure. For the time being though, it held reassurances for those with property in the area.
Photo by Tim DruganCan ‘Fire Hardening’ Solve California’s Home Insurance Crisis?
Sue Ladich spent $1,600 clearing brush and trees from around her home in 2014. In 2017, she ponied up $3,500 to clear even more potential wildfire fuel from her property. This year, she spent another $2,200.
But the more than $7,000 and countless hours of work spent in the name of keeping her Truckee home safe from wildfires added up to nothing in the eyes of insurers.
Photo by Anne Wernikoff From the Community Editorial Board: Battling Wildfires
It’s 2020. Decades from now, assuming we all survive this year, we might remember this as a year the world was literally on fire. We were breathing in smoke and ash was raining down during a global pandemic of a novel respiratory infection.
What Are the Most Effective Ways To Insure and Mitigate Wildfire Risks?
The extreme wildfires of the last several years, from California to Australia, have raised broad concerns about the future of wildfire risk management programs.
Wildfire Partners Receives $1.2 Million from FEMA
Boulder County residents are leading the way in climate adaptation and wildfire mitigation efforts with the assistance of Wildfire Partners.
Homeowners Insurance May Be Harder to Get in Risky Wildfire Areas
A few months ago, John Parker retired and moved into a salmon-colored log house on a mountain called Tungsten in unincorporated Boulder County. “Just to get a little piece of heaven, get away from the maddening crowd,” he says.
Photo by Rae Ellen BichellAs Wildfire Risk Increases in Colorado and the West, Home Insurance Grows Harder to Find
A few months after Chris Cook and his family moved from California into a four-bedroom house nestled among Ponderosa pines in the foothills here, they received a letter saying their home insurance policy had been canceled.
Photo by Helen H. RichardsonHow Wildfires Are Making Some California Homes Uninsurable
California’s wildfires keep growing bigger, more frequent and more destructive. Of the 20 worst wildfires in state history, four were just last year, giving rise to a record $12.6 billion of insurance claims.
Photo by Eric ThayerWhat Happens When You Buy a House in a Disaster Zone?
In many states, laws don’t require sellers to disclose that a property is in a flood or wildfire area, leaving homeowners with unexpected damage and losses. No federal systems alert potential property owners where wildfire may strike next, though some states, including California and Colorado, have mapped regional hazards.
Photo by John MacKayWildfire Season Is Now A Rubik’s Cube Of Homeowner Action, Insurance Concerns
Colorado wildfire officials are bracing for an active season. That includes the recent human-sparked 117 Wildfire in El Paso County, which destroyed as many as 23 homes and burned nearly 43,000 acres.
Photo by Grace Hood