You are here: home   Issues   Non-navigable River Blues   Ich bin ein stupid-zoner
Topic: Politics & Policy     Department: Letters

Ich bin ein stupid-zoner

Document Actions

In Ed Quillen's article "Change We Could Believe In," the term "stupid zones" is defined as "an area that is stupid to build in on account of predictable dangers -- avalanches, forest fires, hurricanes, tornadoes, mudslides, floods, etc." (HCN, 12/22/08). A quick search on the Web site for the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association reveals that hailstorms are the most frequent and expensive (in terms of insurance payouts) catastrophes in the Rockies, accounting for 12 of the 16 most costly events. The single most expensive catastrophe is a hailstorm that hit the Denver metro area in July 1990 ($996 million in 2007 dollars).

The reality is that we all live in stupid zones. No location on the landscape is immune. No one has the high ground to be pointing the finger at others. We all end up paying. The more of us on the landscape, the greater the damages.

Dave Hallock
Payson, Arizona

Some zones stupider than others
Adam Guilford
Adam Guilford
Feb 26, 2009 01:12 PM
Dave , I appreciate your desire to spread the blame for stupidity.....but the truth is some places are stupider than others, building in forested areas without adequate space around a home as a buffer against fires is very irresponsible, but the danger can be mitigated if mountain homeowners are willing to clear brush and trees. I do not believe that is a good comparison to equate the danger of hail (unpreventable and unpredictable) with the danger of Mountain homes burning (preventable). It is also the height of stupidity to build in avalanche zones, or flood zones.... the stupidest zone of all may be when federal flood insurance subzidizes rebuilding of homes in dangerous flood or storm zones after they have been destroyed. Please be sure you are comparing apples and oranges in the future as not all building locations are equally dangerous. I believe Ed is correct that there are places that are not appropriate for construction, and others that are not. No place is completely perfect or risk free of course, but there are places that are more sensible than others pretending that all places are the same is disingenuous

Adam Guilford.... Aurora Colorado

Email Newsletter

The West in your Inbox

Follow Us

Follow us on Facebook! Follow us on Twitter! Follow our RSS feeds!
  1. In the field with a Montana couple hunting wolves | Amid bitter controversy over allowing hunters and ...
  2. How right-wing emigrants conquered North Idaho | Conservative transplants largely from California h...
  3. Seeking balance in Oregon's timber country | Can logging towns and old-growth forests both thri...
  4. (Still) getting the lead out | When will hunters stop poisoning condors with ammu...
  5. Save our gauges | Important USGS stream gauges imperiled by austerit...
  1. Don't mess with the Forest Service | How a determined and feisty Forest Service held of...
  2. How right-wing emigrants conquered North Idaho | Conservative transplants largely from California h...
  3. How technology detected a huge mine landslide before it happened | Employees at a Kennecott copper mine outside Salt ...
  4. Seeking balance in Oregon's timber country | Can logging towns and old-growth forests both thri...
  5. The Forest Service battles placer mining with an obscure law | A little-known 1955 law gives the Forest Service a...
Subscriber Alert
HCN Classifieds
More from Politics & Policy
Once there was an effective governor and a middle ground Remembering former Oregon Gov. Tom McCall, a centrist who got good things done.
Save our gauges Important USGS stream gauges imperiled by austerity
The other Cannabis legalization story Is victory finally within reach for hemp growers?
All Politics & Policy
 
© 2013 High Country News, all rights reserved. | privacy policy | terms of use | powered by Plone | site by Groundwire | design by Ryan Foster

HCN Logo High Country News in your inbox!


Sign up now to receive our weekly email newsletter!

• The best weekly collection of Western environmental news

• An at-a-glance look at our latest news and analysis


This box was designed to only appear once. It uses a "cookie" (a small file stored on your computer) to remember that it has shown the box to you.

If you are seeing this box appear multiple times, then something is not allowing the cookie to be stored properly. Browsers can be set to not allow cookies, and some people choose to disallow cookies for security reasons. If your browser is setup this way, please consider adding "www.hcn.org" as an exception to your no-cookies rule. For information about how to do this, just search the Web for "browser cookie exceptions."

If you're sure this isn't the problem, then it could be related to how your browser has stored information from our site in previous visits. Browsers often "cache" images, text and other website content in order to make them appear faster if you ever go back. Sometimes the browser's cache can be corrupted or become outdated. The simplest fix for this is to try reloading the page. If that doesn't fix the problem, it may be necessary to clear your temporary items from your browser. Again, a web search will provide you with lots of options and instructions.

Either way, we're sorry to hear that this box is getting in the way of your enjoyment of the HCN website. If you continue to have trouble, please contact our Subscriber Services team.