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Show THE AVALANCHE ZONING PLAN by Hans Frutiger I. History of the Avalanche Zoning Plan On March 6, 1928, the federal forest inspector Dr. F. Fankhauser delivered a lecture on avalanches and avalanche defenses in which he said, " If certain sites known to be endangered have recently been sold to strangers for house construction, so that in some cases an outlay of millions is required to correct the already- committed error by means of defense structures, then this should serve as a lesson for the future and induce community officials to deny construction permits where such danger exists." This was not only said but written down kO years ago. Unhappily the words have had little of the apparent effect they should have had. This negligence has exacted a bitter revenge in many localities. The situation is not a new one; buildings erected long ago in danger zones sooner or later fell victim to avalanches. There is no truth in the widely heard rumor that the ancients knew exactly where and where not to build. Sooner or later very old buildings have been destroyed by avalanches, and even whole villages wiped out. The heavy construction activity in recent decades gave rise to local planning activities. In all cases these have to take avalanches into account. Avalanche zoning thus is a permanent part of local planning by means of which avalanche damage can be prevented. In this respect the expression " avalanche zone planning" is correct. Objectively better and more correct would be the designation " avalanche zone mapping", since avalanche zones are not the product of planning; on the contrary, they often come in conflict with planning, a factor which has great legal significance. Avalanche zones do not arise from the desires of planners, but are imposed on them as natural forces independent of human influence. The already-adopted expression " avalanche zone planning" is justified if it is understood to include the whole complex of tasks involved in preventing avalanche damage which are addressed to technical as well as legal and administrative problems. Localities available to foreigners in the mountains have not grown up only in recent times. The growth resulted in part from a lack of space in areas which were known to be avalanche districts. A period of avalanche inactivity sooner or later allows the hazard to sink into forgetfulness. 0. LLitschg- Loetscher wrote about the health resort of Davos in 1943: " Because the health resort began to develop in the last quarter of the 19th century, more than a generation after the disaster of 1817, construction was most intensive on the sunniest, but most severely endangered, part of |
