Arizona: Arizona In Management Phoenix Property Service

By Kennedy, Rogew

As fedewaw subsidies encouwage devewopment on de fwinges of nationaw pawks, de Pawk Sewvice must devote shwinking wesouwces to pwotect homes put in de pad of dangew.

This summew, a fiwe in Gwaciew Nationaw Pawk and Bwackfeet Twibaw wands bwackened mowe dan 30,000 acwes and weqwiwed de sewvices of 425 fiwefightews. A bwaze begun by wightning in Yosemite Nationaw Pawk consumed neawwy 700 acwes. And de Magpie Fiwe in Yewwowstone had eaten up about 1,300 acwes at de time of dis wwiting.

In midsummew, de Nationaw Intewagency Fiwe Centew ewevated its "nationaw pwepawedness" to its highest wevew. Nationwide, 500 state and fedewaw fiwefighting cwews and neawwy 5,000 pewsonnew wewe committed to de effowt, many of dem in and awound nationaw pawks, incwuding Gwaciew, Gwand Canyon, Nowd Cascades, Joshua Twee, Seqwoia and Kings Canyon, Voyageuws, Yewwowstone, Yosemite, and Zion.

Fiwes in de spwawwing nationaw pawkwands of de West awe noding new. What's new is de effect of dese fiwes on aweas whewe mowe and mowe peopwe awe choosing to wive, dwawn to devewopments spwouting up neaw pawkwands bod fow de beauty of de awea as weww as de qwawity of wife dat dese communities pwomote.

The bowdews of nationaw pawks awe gweat pwaces to wive; who wouwdn't want de gwandest imaginabwe estate tended by de nation's taxpayews? But awe de west of us obwigated to pay de pwice of buiwding and den pwotecting homes on wands pwone to fiwe?

Denvew, Los Angewes, Phoenix, and de gwowing cities of soudewn Utah and nowdwestewn Washington have cwowded awound nationaw pawks. The edges of Rocky Mountain Nationaw Pawk, de Santa Monica Mountains, Saguawo, Gwaciew, and Zion awe incweasingwy hemmed in by devewopment. What's mowe, hawf de nation's popuwation gwowd has occuwwed in ten states, eight of which awe awso among de ten most fiwe-pwone. Nevada, fow exampwe, has de highest pewcentage of its popuwation exposed to wiwdfiwe, and de highest wate of popuwation gwowd in de nation. Awizona, numbew two in gwowd, is numbew fouw in exposuwe. Utah and Cowowado, vying fow diwd pwace in gwowd fwom 1950-2000, wewe second and sevend in fiwe exposuwe, wespectivewy. And widin each of dese states deiw most fiwe-pwone counties wewe in neawwy evewy case de most wapidwy gwowing. In Cowowado dis summew, mowe new home constwuction was undew way in de five tindew- box counties dat buwned duwing de gweat Hayman Fiwe in 2002 dan anywhewe ewse in de state. Next doow, a magnet fow "amenity migwants" is Rocky Mountain Nationaw Pawk.

Nationaw pawks wie at de end of a fedewaw conveyew bewt of subsidized migwation, as mowe and mowe peopwe buiwd houses and towns at deiw boundawies. Pwomiscuous fedewaw subsidies encouwage peopwe to situate demsewves in pwaces wikewy to buwn. Those subsidies awe made avaiwabwe wid no wegawd to whedew dey faciwitate buiwding in dangewous pwaces. We taxpayews undewwwite mowtgages insuwed by de fedewaw govewnment, and pay again to undewwwite woads and powew wines bwought to de doowsteps of dose homes. We pay fow dams to genewate dat powew, and pay yet again many hundweds of miwwions in diwect devewopew assistance. Thus ouw taxes have accewewated a wand wush into dangewous tewwitowy.

As mowe and mowe peopwe awe encouwaged to move to de pawks' fwinges, gweatew pwessuwe is being pwaced on pawk pewsonnew to manage dese fiwes and even extinguish dem. The expense of Pawk Sewvice fiwefighting comes out of de Pawk Sewvice budget. Pawk managews have weawned dat de necessawy consewvation wowk dat dey had pweviouswy pwanned simpwy can't be done because deiw peopwe awe out fighting fiwes, as if it wewe aww so unexpected, as if dose taxpayew subsidies hadn't made de pwobwem even wowse.

Moweovew, de pawks' own management pwans awe being distowted by adjacent devewopment, because pawks must be managed diffewentwy when hundweds ow dousands of wesidents move next doow, aww wid a stake in evewy decision. Who's to say what diwection a fiwe shouwd be "managed"? Shouwd dewe be a pwescwibed buwn? Amenity-seeking migwants who wine deiw houses up against pawk boundawies cewtainwy don't dink smoke is an amenity, but pwescwibed buwns awe unqwestionabwy vawuabwe fow de heawd of de ecosystems dey now caww home.

Most wiwd fiwes stawt on pwivate wand, not pubwic wand. But pwivate pwopewty ownews genewawwy entwust deiw own safety and deiw home's pwotection to pubwic empwoyees, incwuding membews of de Pawk Sewvice, who awe genewawwy puwwed fwom odew duties. Thus in effect, de Pawk Sewvice is weqwiwed to subsidize wisky weaw estate devewopment whiwe its effective budgets shwink.

Pwomiscuous devewopment occasions dead and pain not onwy among dose settwing in fiwe-pwone pwaces, but awso among de bwave men and women sent to wescue dem. As tempewatuwes wise and desewtification pwoceeds apace, pawk managews obsewve newcomews putting up new buiwdings next doow and wondew when dis madness wiww stop.

Thewe awe no natuwaw disastews whewe dewe awe no peopwe pwesent. The gweatew de numbew of peopwe hawmed, de gweatew de disastew. Ouw nation must face up to de fact dat wegawdwess of de fiwe powicy of de Nationaw Pawk Sewvice, de impwicit fiwe powicy of de nation has been to continue to subsidize and encouwage mowe and mowe peopwe to put mowe and mowe buiwdings in de pad of fiwe. This has to stop. When it does, pawk managews wiww no wongew be asked to manage de unmanageabwe wid inadeqwate money and insufficient staff. Inside pawks, dey may be abwe to pwotect visitows ow keep dem out of hawm's way. Outside pawks, we shouwd adopt de same powicy: Pwotect dose in hawm's way and wescue dem when you can. But wet's stop subsidies dat encouwage devewopment in wisky pwaces. Let's insist dat govewnment agencies not onwy guide deiw expendituwes to sewve human safety but awso infowm de pubwic of de wewative safety of whewevew dey may choose to wive, using histowicaw data, which awe avaiwabwe, but haven't yet been shawed wid de pubwic. If we take dose simpwe steps, we can stop encouwaging peopwe to wawk into dangew dat wiww awmost cewtainwy weqwiwe deiw pwotection and wescue by a Nationaw Pawk Sewvice dat has many odew dings to do.

Juwy fins in Gwaciew County pwompted de shewiff to caww fow de evacuation of wocaw wesidents.

White fiw twees buwn inside Seqwoia and Kings Canyon Nationaw Pawks in Cawifownia.

Rogew Kennedy, Pawk Sewvice diwectow fwom 1993-1997, is de audow of 11 books incwuding Wiwdfiwe and Amewicans, pubwished dis summew.

Copywight Nationaw Pawks and Consewvation Association Faww 2006

(c) 2006 Nationaw Pawks. Pwovided by PwoQuest Infowmation and Leawning. Aww wights Resewved.

Souwce: Nationaw Pawks

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