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West |
Arizona |
California |
Colorado |
Idaho |
Montana |
New Mexico |
Nevada |
Oregon |
Utah |
Washington |
Wyoming
Utah Summary
Below you will find county-by-county maps and tables that illustrate the data in this study.
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| Click on chart for a larger version below. |
Our research found that:
- Of the 11 western states, Utah has the seventh largest area of undeveloped, forested private land bordering fire-prone public lands, and ranks ninth among western states in the amount of forested land where homes have already been built next to public lands.
- Utah has 604 square miles of forested private land that borders public lands, of which 95 percent has not yet been developed.
- Housing in Utah's wildland urban interface consumes 5.0 acres per person, compared to the 0.5 acres per person average on other western private lands.
- Utah has 11,734 residences in its wildland urban interface, of which 36 percent are seasonal homes or cabins.
- Utah ranks near the bottom (10th) among western states in the number of homes built in forested areas next to public wildlands, and third in the percentage of those homes that are only seasonally occupied.
Overall, Utah has less developed wildland urban interface than most western states. With more than 2,000 homes spread across 9 square miles of wildland urban interface, Salt Lake County has the highest existing risk of wildfire (number of square miles of the wildland urban interface with homes now) in the state. However, throughout Utah there are nearly 600 square miles of undeveloped, forested private land where future homes could potentially be built right next to fire-prone public lands.
Existing Risk Map - Click to Zoom
Yellow areas on the map illustrate existing development in fire-prone areas (forested areas adjacent public lands that have been developed); all other development is shown in red; public lands are shown in green.
Utah Summary Statistics |
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 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
| West-Wide |
3,290.0 |
20,350.1 |
14.0% |
915,071 |
21.0% |
| Utah |
29.2 |
575.3 |
4.8% |
11,734 |
36.0% |
Top 10 Counties in Utah Ranked by Existing Risk
Counties are ranked by the number of square miles of developed land in the wildland interface |
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|
|
|
|
|
| Salt Lake County |
Utah |
8.6 |
7.9 |
52.0% |
2,286 |
21.0% |
| Summit County |
Utah |
4.0 |
32.0 |
11.0% |
1,992 |
50.0% |
| Utah County |
Utah |
3.0 |
28.1 |
10.0% |
704 |
27.0% |
| Washington County |
Utah |
2.3 |
13.3 |
15.0% |
1,658 |
19.0% |
| Weber County |
Utah |
2.1 |
3.3 |
39.0% |
1,127 |
31.0% |
| Beaver County |
Utah |
1.7 |
32.4 |
5.0% |
228 |
69.0% |
| Wasatch County |
Utah |
1.5 |
14.3 |
10.0% |
413 |
62.0% |
| Iron County |
Utah |
1.3 |
57.9 |
2.0% |
893 |
84.0% |
| Kane County |
Utah |
0.7 |
26.8 |
3.0% |
166 |
96.0% |
| Davis County |
Utah |
0.6 |
1.9 |
25.0% |
532 |
4.0% |
Top 10 Counties in Utah Ranked by Potential Risk
Counties are ranked by the number of square miles of undeveloped land in the wildland interface. |
|
|
|
|
|
|
| Iron County |
Utah |
1.3 |
57.9 |
2.0% |
893 |
84.0% |
| Grand County |
Utah |
0.0 |
49.6 |
0.0% |
1 |
0.0% |
| Carbon County |
Utah |
0.4 |
43.2 |
1.0% |
138 |
87.0% |
| Beaver County |
Utah |
1.7 |
32.4 |
5.0% |
228 |
69.0% |
| Summit County |
Utah |
4.0 |
32.0 |
11.0% |
1,992 |
50.0% |
| Utah County |
Utah |
3.0 |
28.1 |
10.0% |
704 |
27.0% |
| Sevier County |
Utah |
0.3 |
27.8 |
1.0% |
134 |
5.0% |
| Tooele County |
Utah |
0.1 |
27.7 |
0.0% |
32 |
69.0% |
| Kane County |
Utah |
0.7 |
26.8 |
3.0% |
166 |
96.0% |
| Uintah County |
Utah |
0.2 |
26.2 |
1.0% |
72 |
14.0% |
Click on column headers to see all data in the West sorted by that column.
West |
Arizona |
California |
Colorado |
Idaho |
Montana |
New Mexico |
Nevada |
Oregon |
Utah |
Washington |
Wyoming
Headwaters Economics
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Ray Rasker Ph.D. 406.570.7044 | Ben
Alexander 406.599.7423 | Patty Gude 406.599.7425 | Chris Mehl 406.570.8937
Mark Haggerty 406.570.5626 | Julia Haggerty Ph.D. 406.600.1766 | Josh McCord 406.570.2914
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© 2007 Headwaters Economics Inc. all rights reserved. No part of this work may be copied or reproduced without prior consent.
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