Registration is now open! At: https://www.uidaho.edu/law/news/upcoming-events/wildfire-symposium
 
Law, Planning and Wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface:
The Future of Government and Governance of Disaster in the West
 
Symposium Date:  Friday, October 19, 2018
Proposal Deadline:  January 1, 2018
Location:  Boise, Idaho

 
The Idaho Law Review invites a diverse audience for its symposium, “Law, Planning and Wildfire in the Wildland-Urban Interface:  The Future of Government and Governance of Disaster in the West.” 
 
In 1995, fire suppression made up 16 percent of the U.S. Forest Service’s annual appropriated budget; in 2015, wildfire consumed more than 50 percent of the agency’s budget. 
 
As suppression costs mount, attention is increasingly focused on development patterns that place more people in wildfire’s way, often resulting in higher losses of life, greater property value damage, and higher suppression costs.  This is especially true at the urban fringe, often referred to as the “Wildland-Urban Interface,” or WUI.  Six of the 10 most expensive fires in the past 100 years were WUI fires, despite the fact that WUI fires account for just a small fraction of overall fires fought in any given year.  According to one widely used WUI definition, only 14 percent of the WUI is developed. If current development patterns continue, development in the WUI will almost certainly grow substantially, resulting in even further increases in wildfire protection costs. With the West perennially ranking as a fast-growth region, WUI development is certain to grow over time. 
 
For additional questions, please contact Prof. Stephen R. Miller at millers@uidaho.edu.
 
Current sponsors of the symposium include:  the Idaho Law Review; the University of Idaho College of Law; the University of Idaho Bioregional Planning + Community Design; and the Boise State University School of Public Service.
 
Funding for the symposium includes a grant from the U.S. Forest Service and the Idaho Department of Lands.