I was recently in Texas meeting with folks devoted to the preservation and improvement of their state’s wildlife habitat -- university researchers, ranchers, public officials, and NGO leaders.

The take-home lesson was that private ownership offers no magic elixir. Texas conservationists face problems that challenge us in Montana -- habitat fragmentation, water allocation, and invasive species. The expansion of residential development into risky areas is a huge problem there and here. The ’05 hurricanes demonstrated that homes built in dangerous places risk destruction.

Upon returning to Bozeman, I heard of a large house near Kelly Canyon that had burned to the ground in subzero weather. Last Monday I visited the site. It offers a dramatic lesson in the folly of dangerous site selection.

Why are such locations attractive? Let’s consider three types of locations for homes: costal areas, avalanche chutes, and remote mountainsides.

First, people like to live by water. This may be hardwired in our being, perhaps a part of E. O. Wilson’s “biophilia” hypothesis. I surely exhibit it. When selecting Montana property in the 1960s, I considered only those sites with flowing water. However, the decision to locate in a known, frequent flood zone entails responsibility for the inevitable property damage and destruction that occur.

Avalanche chutes are created by snow that occasionally cuts loose, sometimes often, others only every few decades. Their paths are often attractive: little brush, great views, open access. Fortunately, folks who build in them (and I’ve know some) lack the political organization required to wrench federal subsidy programs for reconstruction after a wipeout.

Mountain homes are especially problematic in the Rockies. Many newcomers arrive precisely because they love mountain views. Magazines such as Big Sky Journal feature and romanticize mountain living. Much of the private land is latticed with access roads for logging, livestock, mining, and cabins.

These mountain sites attract the novice and naïve, but alas most involve serious dangers, especially from fires. Here’s why.

First, forest fires are to the Rockies what hurricanes are to the Gulf coast -- a recurring reality. Second, unless subdivisions are built to accommodate access, their infrastructure is often inadequate for fire protection. Many roads are too steep, bends too sharp and too narrow for two-way traffic. How can a 50,000-pound pumper meet and pass an equally large water tanker on a steep, icy, one-lane road? Further, few mountain homes have an adequate water source for fire protection.

OK, you’ve come West, now cowboy up; don’t blame others for your choices. The fire department’s responsibility is to have operational machines and folks trained to use them in a safe and effective manner. It’s the developer or homebuilder’s responsibility to guarantee access and take defensive measures, e.g., select steel rather than cedar shake roofing.

The key to good public policy is to make individuals accountable for the consequences of their actions, not insulated by governmentally subsidized insurance. If one wants a place in a flood-prone area, build a fishing shack not a mansion. In sum, be prudent and responsible when building.

Back to the site of the house fire. I drive an SUV with new studded snows -- and getting there wasn’t easy. Gravity, nightfall, and below-zero conditions are unforgiving. We can’t reasonably expect our fire departments to endanger themselves and expensive machinery attempting the impossible. Buyers and builders beware.

Here’s one happy note. The drivers of Sourdough Department fire trucks that made it up to the Kelly Canyon fire had practiced on a rough, tough in places, three-and-a-half-mile course on our ranch. We make it available and urge others to consider replicating this opportunity.

Ramona and I will dedicate 98 percent of our ranch land to agriculture and wildlife conservation reserves with only a few carefully selected home sites. This land will carry an easement to maintain this fire access training.

We discovered this carries unexpected benefits. Two years ago a neighboring construction site let a fire explode. The wind whipped the fire down our east section line and toward our buildings. Within 20 minutes several fire trucks were here and the fire was quickly extinguished.

This is a take-home lesson well worth learning: when we help our first responders, they gain the experience to help us. We would be wise to foster such opportunities.