Nonpartisan Economic Research Center Summarizes Rising Cost of Wildfire

Headwaters Economics, a nonpartisan economic research center in Montana, published an excellent summary on the rising costs of wildland fires in the West. Their extensive analysis covers several areas in detail:

A report on why wildfires are becoming more severe and expensive, and how the protection of homes in the Wildland-Urban Interface has added to these costs.
The potential for new home development in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) at the county and state level.
State-specific research on the impact of new homes and temperature change on wildfire suppression costs.
White Paper with suggestions for how future firefighting costs best can be controlled.