JACKSON, Wyo. — A new Wildland Urban Interface (WUI) Boundary, that includes all private lands within Teton County, will go into effect Jan. 1, 2025, following final approvals by both the Town and County.
The Teton County Board of County Commissioners approved the resolution on Nov. 19, following a public hearing covering the proposed amendment to the Wildland Urban Interface Code. The Town Council approved the third and final reading of the ordinance on Dec. 16.
Discussions about the update began in June, with Fire Marshall Raymond Lane presenting the update and the expected implications for the community.
According to Fire/EMS, research shows that ember showers can travel 23 miles in the right conditions, and populated areas in Teton County have, on average, greater wildfire risk than 84% of communities in the state.
WUI represents the line, area, or zone where structures and other human development meet with undeveloped wildland that is considered a wildfire-prone landscape or vegetation. Land, developments, and communities adjacent to and surrounded by wildfire-prone landscapes or vegetation are considered at risk of a wildfire event.
In Teton County, the WUI Code supplements the Building Code and Fire Code and provides special regulations for construction, alteration, movement, repair, maintenance and use of any building or structure within the county. The change will ban wood shakes in all parts of the Town and County and require WUI code reviews for roofing, siding and decks, something the Town didn’t previously review.
The extension of the boundary will make all new construction subject to WUI Code review, which could increase building costs for new construction, Lane said, but existing homes will likely have little to no compliance requirements. Lane also said homeowners insurance should not increase or be denied with the new boundary extension.
“When it comes to writing policies, if [Insurers] are on the fence about a property, they will actually look at the CWPP [Community Wildfire Protection Plan] for the community to see if it is updated and a well-written document,” Lane said. “We are on the same team here, so if they see the county and local government are doing the right thing by trying to build more wildfire-resistant [homes], they will write that policy.”
The update is part of a larger update to the Community Wildfire Protection Plan. The Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) was last updated in 2014 and needs to be updated at least every 10 years so Fire/EMS is eligible for wildfire prevention grant opportunities.
“We live in an environment that is conducive to wildfire risk,” Lane said. “Expanding the boundary allows us to work toward finding local solutions for risk reduction by creating a wildfire adapted community.”
