This webinar with Travis Paveglio, assistant professor of natural resource sociology in the Department of Natural Resources and Society at the University of Idaho, is being hosted by the Northwest Fire Science Consortium. 

A growing body of wildfire research indicates that populations will support or enact different programs, policies and planning approaches to better “live with wildfire.” Such differences are the result of variable and evolving local cultures that may have unique relationships with their landscape, including wildfire. Few conceptual approaches systematically link local social context with flexible wildfire management strategies most likely to succeed among diverse populations.

This presentation builds on one existing conceptual approach for characterizing local socio-ecological conditions that influence how and why populations might adapt differently to changing wildfire conditions. We use examples from 20 years of case studies on wildfire planning, response and recovery to explore the applicability of commonly cited programs (e.g. Firewise, Community Wildfire Protection Plans), mitigation approaches (e.g. fuel breaks, home ignition zone treatments) and policies (e.g. evacuation, suppression priorities, building codes) across a range of U.S. West communities. Results suggest that unique combinations of mitigations, planning strategies and wildfire policies will be needed to foster fire adaptation in diverse community groupings that share similar local social context. Not all communities will need the same resources or adopt the same tactics in preparing for or responding to fire. The presentation concludes with a call for wildfire social science to reconsider the value of understanding adaptation as a process, and to diversify assessment of progress toward national goals of “fire adapted communities” by considering how wildfire management best responds to local conditions.