Wildland Urban Interface designations cause uproar Play Video
Posted: Jul 30, 2010 5:18 PM
Updated: Jul 30, 2010 7:16 PM
HAMILTON - A war is raging in Ravalli County over Wildland Urban Interface designations as some property owners accuse officials of using it for "back-door zoning."
But, local government leaders say the law is meant to assess forest fire risk and nothing else.
"I'm a land rights advocate and it's trampling all over our property rights." Ravalli county landowner Niki Sardot said.
She added that her property value has plummeted since being designated as part of the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI)
She recently spoke out in Helena, asking legislators to change the law so it doesn't restrict development.
"Please look at what our county has done. The pink area... it has placed 244,000 acres or 65% of the private property in the wildlands urban interface. Talking to Senator Shockley before this meeting, he thought it was in the forest.. no. It's from the river bottom up to the
forest. That is what they have done to us. This is backdoor zoning."
But county commissioner J.R. Iman disagrees, saying that theWUI map is a tool to assess the risk of forest fires and can only be used for that purpose.
"It's only for it's designated use. It can't be used for insurance rates, can't be used to enforce building codes, it can't be used to create or deny subdivisions."
Libby representative Chas Vincent helped carry the bill and says he will look into whether the law is being used improperly.
In the meantime, Sardot continues to worry that owning land that's considered a fire risk will prevent her from developing it.
"They will go across to the next valley or county or city because they think it's dangerous. So it could bring the value down to nothing!"
Ravalli County commissioners continue to emphasize that no regulations can be placed on property owners without their consent.
Designating land as part of the Wildland Urban Interface allows the State to use federal funds to reduce the risk of fires in those areas.
