Sightline Institute

This article is part of Wildfire Wednesday, a storytelling project from 1000 Friends of Oregon that explores how land use decisions shape Oregon’s wildfire risk. Sightline broke down the risk and costs to the entire Northwest region in a report earlier this year. Nearly 390,000 Oregonians, about one in ten people, live in census tracts with high or very high wildfire hazard, and more than 20,000 people moved into fire country between 2018 and 2023.

One in four Cascadians live in homes governed by community associations such as HOAs, condos associations, or strata corporations. But many associations hamper homeowners’ efforts to install heat pumps and access clean, efficient heating and cooling through procedural hurdles, restrictive rules, and, in a few cases, outright bans.

Drought, heat, and sprawl are all escalating the risk that a Northwest utility’s infrastructure will spark a devastating, deadly fire. To avoid being on the hook for billions of dollars in damages and potential bankruptcy, investor-owned utilities (IOUs) in the region are spending millions of their customers’ dollars to prevent wildfires.

Washington’s property tax system quietly rewards landowners who sit on vacant lots in our cities, while penalizing investment in the new homes, shops, and jobs that create real community value. The fix for this counterproductive dynamic is a land value tax that lowers the tax on buildings and raises it on land.

Mail-in voting, a big part of Cascadia’s democracy infrastructure, is facing challenges: The US Postal Service has consolidated processing centers, delaying postmarks and deliveries; A US Supreme Court case might require more stringent ballot deadlines; and Congress and President Trump are trying to impose additional barriers or even an outright ban.

In Montana, incumbent politicians can effectively hand-pick their successors if they drop out of a primary last-minute and swap in their preferred replacement. The state of Missouri avoids that exact ploy with a simple law that reopens candidate filing if someone withdraws at the eleventh hour. In 2027, Montana lawmakers have an opportunity to adopt similar legislation to close the loophole. It played out like a game of three-card monte, with Montana voters as the mark.

Founded in 1993, Sightline Institute is committed to making Cascadia — the binational region stretching from Alaska to northern California and the Pacific to the Rocky Mountains — a global model of sustainability, with strong communities, a green economy, and a healthy environment. Sightline is one of the region’s premier public policy think tanks, influencing legislation many times and media coverage hundreds of times each year.

Founded in 1993, Sightline Institute is committed to making Cascadia — a region stretching from Alaska to northern California and the Pacific to the Rocky Mountain states — a global model of sustainability, with strong communities, a green economy, and a healthy environment. Sightline is one of the region’s premier public policy think tanks, influencing legislation many times and media coverage hundreds of times each year.

Washington just passed the United States’ first statewide bill reforming the building code to allow scissor stairs in apartment buildings. Scissor stairs comprise two interlocking stairways with two separate exits, enclosed and separated by fire-resistance rated walls. They conserve square footage and construction costs, enhance apartments’ light and cross-ventilation, and help buildings fit onto smaller lots—great features for higher-quality, less expensive infill homes.

Ranked choice ballots allow voters to express nuanced political opinions across party lines. Voters can back their favorite candidate without spoiling an election for their second-favorite. In Alaska’s first ranked choice elections in 2022, Democrat Mary Peltola won and held the state’s US House seat with cross-partisan support from Nick Begich voters. In a 2024 rematch, Begich (a Republican) won a majority with support across parties.