Collaborative efforts are an effective tool for managing the growing social and ecological complexities of wildfire adaptation at the landscape level. However, efforts to document the decision-making processes of collaborative groups around fire management, particularly as they relate to best available science and related policy directives, are scarce. This project presents a case study of the 2-3-2 Cohesive Strategy Partnership, a collaborative spanning the New MexicoColorado border, with the intent to characterize how members access and use best available science to make management decisions at the landscape scale. We conducted 26 semi-structured interviews with 2-3-2 members, including representatives from land and fire management agencies, local governments and non-governmental organizations in 2023. The National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy initially guided the partnership’s development and purpose, but interviewees felt that the 2-3-2’s work has since evolved to align with a broader constellation of policies, positioning them to readily apply for more collaborative federal and state funding opportunities. This flexibility was possible because of the grassroots evolution of the partnership, allowing the group to pivot in response to funding mechanisms that aligned with their purpose. Discussion regarding organizational processes revealed that terms like “best available science” do not accurately describe the information sources the partnership used to make decisions. Instead, the partnership blended western science with traditional ecological knowledge and local expertise, often favoring the term “best available knowledge” to more comprehensively capture the range of sources they drew from. We suggest that entities funding landscape-level restoration that can address wildfire risk consider broadening requirements related to use of science in decision making to support more holistic and inclusive management decisions on the ground.