Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Why we should be focusing on fireproofing our homes instead of adapting our forests

Colby K. Neal
/
Bureau of Land Management

Those who try to stop or manage devastating wildland fires spend most of their time trying to adapt the forest using things like controlled burns or cutting down trees.

But a new study says we should be spending our time and money making homes in these areas harder to burn down.

That's a controversial idea for many who don't want to be told what to do with their private property, and it would take political will and new zoning and building codes to make it happen.

Mountain West News Bureau Boise Reporter Murphy Woodhouse joined Idaho Matters to tell us more.

Stay Connected
As Senior Producer of our live daily talk show Idaho Matters, I’m able to indulge my love of storytelling and share all kinds of information (I was probably a Town Crier in a past life). My career has allowed me to learn something new everyday and to share that knowledge with all my friends on the radio.
As Boise State Public Radio's Mountain West News Bureau reporter, I try to leverage my past experience as a wildland firefighter to provide listeners with informed coverage of a number of key issues in wildland fire. I’m especially interested in efforts to improve the famously challenging and dangerous working conditions on the fireline.