Amidst the ongoing housing crisis, federal efforts are underway to utilize public land for residential development in the United States. A collaboration between the U.S. Department of Interior and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has been established to evaluate the potential of public lands for housing purposes.
The Interior Department, responsible for managing over 500 million acres, indicates that a significant portion of this land could potentially be used for housing. However, according to a study by Headwaters Economics, merely 1.5 million acres are deemed practical and secure for development. This amount of land could accommodate approximately 700,000 new homes, specifically targeting areas near urban centers in the Mountain West, such as Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Arizona.
Megan Lawson, the study’s author, emphasizes the necessity for permanent affordability measures for any housing developments on public land. She states, “Because if we just add more houses, especially in these really high-demand communities, we are just going to be contributing to sprawl, rising cost of living, rising infrastructure costs.”
Lawson also highlights the importance of considering environmental risks like wildfires and droughts when planning new residential areas. She notes, “So much of our Western public lands is in areas of high wildfire risk. And so, we need to make sure that we’re not putting people at risk.”
To address these concerns, Lawson advocates for incorporating wildfire- and drought-resistant strategies in new developments, which might include implementing water conservation codes and creating defensible spaces around properties.
This report is a product of the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaborative effort among Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado, and KANW in New Mexico, with assistance from affiliate stations. The Mountain West News Bureau receives partial funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
