A new generation of Americans like the Morrises, in moving to places perched on the edge of vast, undeveloped government lands in the West, are living out a dangerous experiment, many of them ignorant of the risk.
Their migration â?? more than 8.6 million new homes in the West within 30 miles of a national forest since 1982, according to research at the University of Wisconsin â?? has coincided with profound environmental changes that have worsened the fire hazard, including years of drought, record-setting heat and forest management policies that have allowed brush and dead trees to build up.
â??Itâ??s like a tsunami, this big wave of development thatâ??s rolling toward the public lands,â? said Volker C. Radeloff, a professor of forest ecology and management at the University of Wisconsin. â??And the number of fires keeps going up.â?