Over the past five years, the Urban Lawyer has published many articles and student notes on a variety of topics that range from land use to local government. Of these articles, many touched on the natural phenomenon of wildfires. Here, I present a summary of each article published in the Urban Lawyer since 2020 that wildfires are the subject of or are mentioned in.
The Urban Lawyer Volume 51, Number 2, published in the Fall of 2021, includes the article, How the Biden Administration Can Empower Local Climate Action by Sarah J. Fox. This article provides recommendations for the Biden administration’s potential approaches to climate action, particularly through federal actors empowering local government climate efforts. Fox highlights the urgency of climate efforts, justifying executive action to support local governments that have the authority to promote climate action through climate adaptation and mitigation. Fox notes the roadblocks of state preemption or a lack of resources that may prevent local action. Fox points to the possibility of conferring regulatory authority on climate issues to local governments through agencies like the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Fox stresses the importance of preserving local authority in climate action because it is more resilient to shifts in federal policy and political control.
The Urban Lawyer Volume 52, Number 1, published in the Spring of 2023, includes an article titled Introduction: The Community Resilience Handbook by John T. Marshall. Marshall provides an introduction for the chapter he contributed to the book, The Community Resilience Handbook, published by the American Bar Association in 2020. Marshall provides an overview of how a handbook such as The Community Resilience Handbook can assist in creating more resilient communities. Marshall asserts that the U.S. has been affected by a string of 246 major disasters, including hurricanes, floods, wildfires, and 9/11, inflicting more than $1 billion in damages to communities since the year 2000. The Community Resilience Handbook’s goal is to provide a roadmap for implementing resilience measures for local governments, community-based organizations, and under-resourced businesses. Marshall’s chapter provides local governments with an outline to increase community disaster resilience, even when facing a lack of resources, staff, or time.
The Urban Lawyer Volume 52, Number 1, published in the Spring of 2023, includes a student note by Jane Jacoby titled Fighting Fire with Fire: How NEPA’S Emphasis on Risk Prevents Prescribed Burns and Intensifies Wildfire. This paper explores the American West’s roadblocks to prescribed burning. Prescribed burning is a land management technique that prevents wildfires because it clears old vegetation that would otherwise fuel uncontrolled wildfires. Jacoby criticizes the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) because it prevents federal agencies from using prescribed fire to prevent future uncontrolled wildfires. Additionally, the author compares governance of the Western U.S. to the Southeast U.S., which does participate in prescribed burning per foresters and forest managers’ recommendations. The author suggests that NEPA, the colonial impact of forest ownership, and local misunderstandings of fire inhibit the Western U.S.’s participation in prescribed fire to the extent of the Southeast, where forests are privately owned and managed. Jacoby also offers options to increase the use of Western prescribed burns.
The Urban Lawyer Volume 51, Number 3, published in 2023, includes an article by James J. Sandman titled Introduction: Meeting the Legal Needs of Disaster Survivors. Sandman offers an introductory article for the ABA Young Lawyers Division (YLD) book, Meeting the Legal Needs of Disaster Survivors. This book consists of 10 essays that outline the importance of pro bono legal assistance in disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and flooding.
The Urban Lawyer Volume 52, Number 3, published in 2024 includes an article by Lauren Ashley Week titled Climate Change in Unincorporated California: The Consequences of Limited Regulation for Land Use, Lodging, and Livelihoods in the Wildland Urban Interface. Week examines the environmental consequences of wildfires induced by climate change in the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI), highlighting the gaps in laws and regulations that affect the environment and housing in the area. Week discusses how the development in the WUI poses a threat to land, lodging, and lives. Week examines the existing legal frameworks and their shortcomings/gaps, with an emphasis on Solano County, California’s land use regulations. Finally, Weeks presents solutions to bridge the gap between the limited MUI regulations and their impacts on the affordable housing crisis.
Each article offers a perspective on wildfires and how they affect the natural landscape of the U.S. Acknowledging each author’s commentary on wildfires is important in understanding how present wildfires are and the risk they pose.
