Melanie Stidham

Social science research related to wildfire management: an overview of recent findings and future research needs

As with other aspects of natural-resource management, the approach to managing wildland fires has evolved over time as scientific understanding has advanced and the broader context surrounding management decisions has changed. Prior to 2000 the primary focus of most fire research was on the physical and ecological aspects of fire; social science research was limited to a small number of studies. However, as more people moved into fire-prone areas interest grew in understanding relevant social dynamics. This growing interest was supported by increased funding for fire research overall with the creation of the Joint Fire Science Program in 1998 and the National Fire Plan in 2000. In subsequent years,a significant bodyof researchhasdeveloped on the humandimensionsof wildland firecoveringdiverse topics including: attitudes towards pre-fire mitigation, social acceptability of fire and fuels management, community preparedness, public response during fires, citizen-agency communications and post-fire recovery. This paper reports on twoaspectsofaJointFireScienceProgramprojectintendedtotakestockofthekeysocialsciencelessonsprovidedtodate: a basic review of findings in the non-economic fire social science literature and identification of future research needs.

Reducing fuels in the wildland–urban interface: community perceptions of agency fuels treatments

Wildland fires and resulting effects have increased in recent years. Efforts are under way nationwide to proactively manage vegetative conditions to reduce the threat of wildland fires. Public support is critical to the successful implementation of fuels reduction programs, particularly at the wildland–urban interface. This study examines public acceptance of fuels treatments and influencing factors in five neighbourhoods in Oregon and Utah located adjacent to public lands. Support for treatment use was high across locations. Findings suggest citizen trust in agency managers to successfully implement treatment activities is particularly influential on treatment acceptance. Thus, building and maintaining trust with local citizens is an essential element in the successful implementation of fuel management programs.

Wildfire evacuation and its alternatives: perspectives from four United States’ communities

Recent years have seen growing interest within the United States fire management community in exploring alternatives to the standard approach of evacuating entire populations that are threatened by a wildfire. There has been particular interest in what can be learned from the Australian approach, whereby residents choose whether or not to evacuate under the ‘prepare, stay and defend or leave early’ approach, also called Stay or Go. Given these developments, it is useful to understand what elements are taken into consideration by those who would be most affected by a new approach when they think through the pros and cons of mass evacuation v. an alternative strategy should a wildfire occur. This paper reports on findings from interviews in four communities in the United States where some alternative to mass evacuation during a wildfire was being considered. In each community, emergency responders and community members were asked for their perspective on the pros and cons of evacuation and the alternative being considered. The results show that opinions were mixed on whether evacuation or an alternative approach was more appropriate. Individuals who were primarily thinking of improving safety and reducing uncertainty for emergency responders tended to think mass evacuation was the best approach, whereas those who were primarily thinking of increasing safety and reducing uncertainty for homeowners were more likely to think that alternative responses were a valid option. These findings demonstrate the complicated nature of developing evacuation strategies that are beneficial to all parties involved.

Longitudinal Social Science Research in Natural Resource Communities: Lessons and Considerations

The majority of social science research is cross-sectional in nature, with data collected at a single point in time. However, social systems are dynamic and many of the variables of interest to social scientists may change over time. Longitudinal research methods enable data collection at two or more points in time among a population of interest to examine change in measured variables and influencing factors. Despite the opportunities it affords, longitudinal research is relatively uncommon in natural-resource-based social science research as compared to other fields (e.g., medical, criminal, education). We feel that the field of natural resource social science is ripe for a proliferation of longitudinal studies, now that a substantial body of cross-sectional data has been built. In the spirit of encouraging more of this type of research, we draw on our collective experiences in longitudinal studies to share lessons learned in research design, sampling, and data management.

Shared visions, future challenges: a case study of three Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program locations

The USDA Forest Service is encouraging the restoration of select forest ecosystems through its Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP). Collaboration is often necessary to implement landscape-scale management projects such as these, and a substantial body of research has examined the benefits and limitations of using collaboration as a tool for improving relationships, trust, and other outcomes among stakeholder groups. However, limited research has investigated the use of collaboration to achieve large-scale ecological restoration goals. Restoration poses some unique conditions for a collaborative approach, including reaching agreement on which historic conditions to use as a reference point, the degree of departure from these reference conditions that warrants management intervention, and how to balance historic conditions with expected future conditions and current human uses of the landscape. Using a mental-models approach, semistructured interviews were conducted with a total of 25 participants at three CFLRP sites. Results indicate that collaboration contributed to improved relationships and trust among participants, even among stakeholder groups with a history of disagreement over management goals. In addition, a shared focus on improving ecosystem resilience helped groups to address controversial management topics such as forest thinning in some areas. However, there was also evidence that CFLRP partnerships in our study locations have primarily focused on areas of high agreement among their stakeholders to date, and have not yet addressed other contentious topics. Previous studies suggest that first conducting management in areas with high consensus among participating stakeholders can build relationships and advance long-term goals. Nonetheless, our results indicate that achieving compromise in less obviously departed systems will require more explicit value-based discussions among stakeholders.

Social Science Findings in the United States

The rising number of acres burned annually and growing number of people living in or adjacent to fire-prone areas in the United States make wildfire management an increasingly complex and challenging problem. Given the prominence of social issues in shaping the current challenges and determining paths forward, it will be important to have an accurate understanding of social dynamics. After providing a brief contextual background of fire management in the United States, this chapter focuses on a review of the key findings from social science research related to how the public views fire management in the United States. Primary topics discussed are public acceptance of fuels treatments on public lands, homeowner mitigation activities, and social dynamics during and after a fire. The goal of the chapter is to (1) provide fire managers and other interested stakeholders with an accurate understanding of what shapes public response to fire management before, during, and after fires; (2) provide a context for future research; and (3) inform future efforts to foster fire-adapted communities where people are aware of the fire risk and have taken appropriate action to reduce that risk and increase resilience to wildfire.

Little Bear Fire Summary Report

In June 2012, immediately after the Little Bear Fire burned outside Ruidoso, New Mexico, a team of researchers interviewed fi re managers, local personnel, and residents to understand perceptions of the event itself, communication, evacuation, and pre-fi re preparedness. Th e intensity of fi re behavior and resulting loss of 242 homes made this a complex fi re with a complex social response. While most of the people we spoke with thought the fi re was managed well despite diffi cult biophysical circumstances, some held the perspective that the fi re could have been extinguished sooner. One of the most agreed-upon successful aspects of the fi re was that everyone was evacuated with no injuries and no lives lost, despite the rapid fi re spread in an area with numerous houses and limited access. Notifying individuals of house loss and getting people back into their neighborhoods in a timely manner were the two issues most frequently identifi ed as areas needing improvement. Interagency and intra-agency communication were universally highly regarded by federal fi re personnel and local emergency responders. Th ese two groups also perceived communication with the public to have been successful. However, members of the public we spoke with thought there were some signifi cant communication issues and wanted certain information sooner and more frequently.

Pine Ridge Fire summary report

In July 2012, immediately after the Pine Ridge Fire burned outside De Beque, Colorado, a team of researchers interviewed fire managers, local government officials, and residents to understand perceptions of the event itself, communication, evacuation, and pre-fire preparedness in order to identify contributors to success and areas for improvement. Although the fire had been a fast-moving event that presented significant risk to critical regional infrastructure and homes, research participants largely agreed that the fire management response prevented losses and that the actions taken before the fire among fire managers and emergency responders to plan and build relationships were a key component of the success.