Headwaters Economics

In our latest we explore how in #rural communities smart investments are a key ingredient to solutions for a wide range of challenges, including the growing risk and severity of natural disasters. Well-informed, data-driven decisions about these investments will make a difference not just to rural places, but also to the nation. https://lnkd.in/gHzCpM2q #economicdevelopment #hazards

Rising demand for FEMA’s innovative hazard mitigation program far exceeds available funding. Since 2020 FEMA's BRIC program has allocated more than $5 billion for community projects that can alleviate human suffering and avoid economic losses from wildfire, floods, and other disasters. In the latest round of funding the applications submitted exceeded available funds by more than five times. https://lnkd.in/gj6qZsDF Kristin Smith, PhD #mitigation #climate #hazard #disaster #fema

Get up to speed with the latest innovations in #mitigation policy & research. Thank you Natural Hazards Center!

Federal maps are guiding billions in climate investments to at-risk and in-need communities, but are they identifying places where local governments face capacity barriers? In a new analyses with the William Averette Anderson Fund for Hazard and Disaster Mitigation Education and Research we examine how local capacity aligns with the CEJST and CDRZ federal climate vulnerability maps. https://lnkd.in/gSEErjgB #climate #resilience #mitigation

The latest climate data and other methodology updates to wildfirerisk.org, a free tool for understanding wildfire risks across the United States, reveal that over 115 million people—more than one-third of the U.S. population—live in counties with high wildfire risk. Find out the risks in your community and discover solutions that can help neighborhoods become wildfire ready. https://lnkd.in/gkSfev56 #wildfire #risk #hazard #resilience #forests #communities

Access to trails can play a big role in the quality of life and economic well-being of a community, and there is a lot of research to prove it. Start exploring that research in Headwaters Economics' free, curated collection of nearly 200 high-quality studies that measure the wide-ranging benefits that #trails bring to communities. #outdoorrecreation #openspace https://lnkd.in/gHNgDTfv

Austin, Texas: Built for Wildfire Austin is a national leader when it comes to reducing risk to homes in the Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI). In this video produced by Headwaters Economics, leaders from Austin describe how they came to realize the magnitude of the wildfire threat, and how they brought together diverse interests to pass one of the most forward-looking WUI codes in the U.S. https://lnkd.in/g7x6Jz8j #wildfire #buildingcodes #austin #resilience

Mobile home parks tend to face higher flood risks than other types of housing, yet they are often overlooked in emergency management and mitigation planning. Our latest research examines one option available to communities when the risk is particularly extreme: Relocating a mobile home park through a property buyout or acquisition. We examined 12 buyout efforts around the US to learn how these projects, and the policies that support them, can be best designed to meet the unique needs of mobile home parks and their residents. https://lnkd.in/dGkWJfFG #floodmitigation #affordablehousing #mobilehomeparks #floods

We've updated analysis we first published in 2018 detailing the impact of home construction in Montana's open spaces, with implications for housing affordability. Some insights from the latest available data: -From 2000-2021, 56% of single-family homes in Montana were built outside of incorporated areas. -41% of Montana’s single-family homes were built in neighborhoods where lot sizes exceed 10 acres. -The current proclivity for low-density residential construction has resulted in the conversion of one million acres of Montana’s undeveloped land since 2000. #montana #openspace #publiclands #affordablehousing #data https://lnkd.in/gmWWPy8w

In the latest PNAS News some of the nation's leading experts explain why our response to #wildfire must include a new focus on creating ignition-resistant communities, and what it will take to get there. #resilientcommunities #climatechange #landuse https://lnkd.in/gAQjKvVU