"Spiking U.S. insurance costs threaten the use of controlled fire, a crucial tool in reducing risks from climate-fueled wildfires".
"KING WILLIAM COUNTY, Virginia – A few years ago, U.S. conservation groups could buy insurance policies to conduct controlled burns to cut wildfire risk - or for other ecological purposes - for about $10,000 per year.
No more.
"In many cases, the premium is zero,” said Dave Lasky, a longtime fire management expert. “There are all kinds of non-profits trying to get these policies and no one will write them."
Lasky, based in Colorado, said underwriters had indicated such groups might be able to buy policies with a million dollars of coverage – but at an annual cost of $100,000.
While some established groups, such as the New Mexico-based Forest Stewards Guild, still have insurance coverage for so-called “prescribed fire,” the costs are out of reach for a growing number of the private groups that carry out much of the burning to cut fire risks in the United States."
David Sherfinski reports for Thomsom Reuters Foundation April 12, 2023.
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