From Spokane, Washington to Pueblo County, Colorado, this wildfire season has again shown the enormous risk that communities across the region face. To avoid such catastrophes, an Idaho county is taking a unique approach to the problem.
There were early signs that this fire season could be a big one, especially the record-low snowpack last winter. In Teton County — near the Grand Targhee Resort — that spurred interest in a novel effort: raising money to help hire a local wildfire mitigation coordinator.
“It’s been amazing,” said Liz Davy, part of the new volunteer group the Teton Valley Fire Action Community Team, or TVFACT. “They started the fundraising effort in February. They had a goal of $140,000. They reached that goal in about May.”
They’ve since upped the goal to $200,000, and are nearly there.
Along with funding from the Nature Conservancy and Teton County Fire & Rescue, the new position at the local fire department will be funded for three years. Once hired, they’ll implement fuels reduction projects on private land and help the U.S. Forest Service on public land efforts.
“I think it can be done in any community,” Davy said. “It takes a few people who want to push it forward, who are passionate about it, who want to stick with it.”
“As negative as the news is about the danger of wildfire in the West right now, there are things that a community can do to mitigate those dangers,” said Jeff Carter, a local homeowners association president who has been heavily involved in the effort. “One person here, one person there isn't going to be nearly as effective as a community coming together to protect the whole community.”
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
