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CWPPs and WUI GIS data were gathered from counties that completed CWPPs. WUI parcels were mapped using Montana Cadastral data and the various WUI categories or levels determined by individual counties. Some counties did not have a WUI mapped by their CWPP. DNRC worked with those counties individually to designate WUI parcels.CWPPs portray WUI boundaries using a variety of methods. Some counties consider nearly their entire county as some type of WUI, while others only recognize small buffers around certain communities. Some counties followed the 2003 Healthy Forest Restoration Act (HFRA) WUI boundaries quite closely and others did not. Thirty-one counties designated only one category of WUI. The remaining twenty-five counties designated multiple WUI levels; some of their categories included:1. varying designations of areas of ‘Very High’, ‘High’, ’Moderate’ and ’Low' Risk or Hazard WUI (Lewis and Clark, Daniels, Sheridan, Roosevelt, Broadwater, Madison), 2. modified versions of the University of Wisconsin Silvis WUI Interface and Intermix WUI levels and Rural WUI areas (Blaine, Hill, and Phillips), 3. probability rankings of WUI occurrence (5-95%) based on structure density (Glacier, Pondera, Liberty, Judith Basin, Fergus, Petroleum, and Yellowstone), 4. four 1-mile wide WUI buffer zones (Deer Lodge, Granite, Powell, Jefferson and Butte-Silver Bow), 5. points (mostly structures or hazardous areas) designated by counties at ‘Extreme Hazard’, ‘High Hazard’ and/or ‘Moderate Hazard’ levels that were applied to parcel polygons (Musselshell, Treasure and Valley).For the thirty-one counties with just one WUI level, if the county WUI boundary intersects a parcel, the entire parcel was designated WUI. There are many WUI parcels that the WUI boundary only slightly intersected. DNRC did not set a level at which parcels with a very small WUI percentage were excluded. Counties can readjust the boundaries to exclude parcels when they update their CWPP. For most counties with multiple WUI levels, WUI parcel levels were determined by the location of the parcel centroid. The exceptions include counties that used point data as their WUI and counties with no CWPP that DNRC assisted in WUI development.WUI parcel delineation was completed from January 2010 through December 2011, Cadastral fields were kept as part of the WUI data. Since the cadastral data that the WUI parcels are based upon is updated regularly, the WUI parcels are out-of-date. There is no current plan to update WUI parcels. |