Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI)
Georgia is experiencing a movement of population from cities and towns into forest and farmland. This change in land use has brought a diverse range of challenges to foresters and other natural resource managers and has created a landscape known as the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The U.S. Forest Service and cooperating state agencies developed InterfaceSouth to heighten awareness of and provide information about wildland-urban interface (WUI) issues in the Southern regions of the United States.
Current issues in the wildland-urban interface include:
Fire, Risk Assessment and Mitigation, and Firewise Planning
The term wildland-urban interface was first described in the context of fire and fire fighting. Fire managers noticed that as development moved into rural areas new problems were occurring that they were not trained for. In 1985, after the loss of over 1400 homes in Florida and California fires, the U.S. Forest Service and the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) met and the concept known as the wildland-urban interface emerged. A direct result of the meeting was the development of the National “Firewise” program. A basic concept of the Firewise program is that responsibility is shared between homeowners, planners, and developers as well as fire managers for the safety of all in the interface.
Please visit Firewise.org to learn more about how to reduce the risk from wildfire for your home and your community. If interested in a firewise risk assessment for your home or community please contact your local GFC county office and schedule an appointment with a GFC Ranger.
Water Quality
Loss of tree cover in Georgia is affecting water quality in the interface due to increased erosion and sedimentation, stormwater run-off, and rising water temperatures.
Growth
Rapid unplanned growth can radically change the landscape of an area. Tree cover loss and land fragmentation are challenges being encountered by forest managers in the wildland-urban interface. Traditional solutions to problems such as insect infestations and stormwater run-off are difficult to apply as tree cover is lost and land is fragmented into smaller units with greater numbers of owners. Land-use planning with trees in mind is vital to the sustainability of a community.
Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to the variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region. It can be a measure of the health of a population, or ecosystem. The effects of development on biodiversity in the wildland-urban interface have yet to be scientifically validated. It is accepted, though, that most threats to biodiversity arise from human activity. Habitat loss, or destruction, and the introduction of non-native, exotic species are two issues currently affecting biodiversity in the wildland-urban interface.
NFPA’s Firewise Communities Program releases new DVD
07.05.11 National Fire Protection Association
