Only who can prevent fires? Homeowners seek federal funds to protect land themselves
Local News - The Coloradoan
Nancy Levy sent this piece on what appears to be HOAs getting federal fire prevention money. Yet another example of these organizations providing public services, with the difference being that here they are using public funds to do it.


Bud Duryea's view sparked his drive to protect his subdivision from wildfire, and the federal government paid for it. "Three-and-a-half years ago we became aware of the beauty of Rams Horn Mountain and the notion that fire and bugs don't respect property lines," said Duryea, the Windcliff subdivision homeowners association president, who lives in Pittsburgh and has a second home in Windcliff. Since then, homeowners in the Windcliff subdivision near Estes Park have used government money to thin the forest around their homes. The 240-acre subdivision houses about 254 people with 37 lots still unbuilt. The money that aided Duryea's group came from the National Fire Plan, an August 2000 directive to provide more money for fire fighting and reducing risky fire conditions in and around the nation's forests.