A bipartisan bill aimed at protecting property owners from wildfires that was passed by the Oregon legislature has prompted a strong backlash, according to a Grist report.
The law provided money to develop new building codes in vulnerable areas and help residents fireproof their homes. One provision requiring the state forestry department to create a comprehensive wildfire risk map with assigned risk scores for every property owner in the state proved to be highly controversial.
Hundreds of residents denounced the measure at public meetings and hundreds more wrote in to contest their risk status. Many argued that the risk map would make their insurance more expensive and their property harder to sell and less valuable.
The wildfire map controversy serves as a warning to other states and cities that want to enact similar laws to adapt to climate change. The possibility of new restrictions on homeowners in vulnerable areas may prompt significant pushback.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
Platinum Award: Reviving Oakland's Uptown Showstopper
The story of the Fox Oakland Theater is like that of so many movie palaces of the early 20th century. Built in 1928 based on a Middle Eastern-influenced design by architect Charles Peter Weeks and engineer William Peyton Day, the 3,400-seat cinema flourished until the mid-1960s, when the trend toward smaller multiplex theaters took its toll on the Fox Oakland.
