The United States House of Representatives and Senate have attempted to prevent dangerous wildfires for years, mostly by changing regulation within the Department of Interior and other federal departments. However, this is a reactive step to preventing devastating wildfires; the federal government must take more proactive action to save lives, wildlife and precious public lands.
At the start of this week, the Hawk Fire in Reno, Nevada, burned over 15,000 acres with 0% containment. As a Nevadan from Reno, it has been devastating to see my hometown consumed by multiple fires this summer. My family is just a phone call away, but the fire that burns on the hillside next to their house is much closer.
“If you have been told to evacuate, please don’t wait! Structures have already been burned in this fire and your life is more important than a building. Evacuating before the fire arrives also allows our firefighters to focus their efforts on battling the blaze,” Reno Mayor Hillary Schieve said in a statement Saturday.
New developments in places like Reno are encroaching on those wildfire-prone areas, otherwise called the wildland-urban interface. In fact, homes built in those areas increased by 41% from 1990 to 2010, reaching 43.4 million units over 190 million acres.
That isn’t the only fire that’s proved to be devastating. Countless cities across the U.S. were affected by wildfire and its dangerous smoke emissions. In July, drought-fueled wildfires in Ontario carried smoke into the Midwest, including Ohio.
Those fires are not a blip or coincidence. In fact, NASA reports that extreme wildfires like those in Canada and Nevada are becoming more intense, larger and frequent over a 21-year span. And despite Congress’ best efforts, the fires continue to consume cities’ exurbs faster than our senators can write legislation.
One recent legislative example is the Wildfire Emissions Prevention Act, led by Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Oreg., and Sen. John Curtis, R-Utah. The act amends the Clean Air Act of 1970 to better utilize state air quality resources, protect wildlife habitats and use controlled fires to mitigate future risks. All of those aspects are great starting points for legislation, but they do little to actually shift the legislative framework that would prevent more fires from happening.
Federal policy is often a reaction to devastating events, not proactive steps to prevent them. Although critical legislation is coming out that reforms regulatory barriers, providing consistently clean air is just the first step in a very long process of battling climate change and wildfires.
Instead, the overall goal of federal policy should be focused on creating resilient communities that can withstand fires every summer, even as global temperatures climb. Controlled wildfires, otherwise known as prescribed fires, are key components of current federal policy, but there is more action that must be taken.
Think about the homes in the wildland-urban interfaces. Those are the areas most prone to wildfire risks, and the hazard zone continues to expand. Future legislation could focus more on zoning codes, for example, to ensure homes that are rebuilt after wildfires adhere to stricter standards while allocating more funding for local firefighter units.
Local zoning standards could also play a critical role. Mixed zoning that focuses on apartment construction and single-family homes would use less space in the WUI while meeting a consistent need for homes.
Although the federal government is a famously slow legislative body, it is possible to work on two or more policy initiatives without losing sight of Americans’ safety. By focusing on housing supply and wildfire management, for example, we could elicit solutions that could increase local resiliency, not damage it.
As fires in Reno and across the country continue to burn, they are not warning signs for reactive change. They are glaring pillars of smoke that demand solutions for generations in advance. The smoke just doesn’t seem to have traveled far enough to Washington, D.C.
Aiden is a junior studying journalism at Ohio University. Please note the opinions expressed in this column do not represent those of The Post. Want to talk to Aiden about his column? Email him at ar260223@ohio.edu.
