United States
Department of
Social Science at the Wildland-Urban
Agriculture Interface: a Compendium of Research Results
Forest to Create Fire-Adapted Communities
Service
Northern Eric Toman
Research Station
Melanie Stidham
General Technical Sarah McCaffrey
Report NRS-111
Bruce Shindler
,Abstract
Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been conducted on the human dimensions
of wildland fire. Building on a relatively small number of foundational studies, this research now
addresses a wide range of topics including mitigation activities on private lands, fuels reduction
treatments on public land, community impacts and resident behaviors during fire, acceptance of
approaches to postfire restoration and recovery, and fire management policy and decisionmaking.
As this research has matured, there has been a recognition of the need to examine the full body
of resulting literature to synthesize disparate findings and identify lessons learned across studies.
These lessons can then be applied to fostering fire-adapted communities—those communities that
understand their risk and have taken action to mitigate their vulnerability and increase resilience.
This compendium of social science research findings related to fire-adapted
communities has resulted from a project funded by the Joint Fire Science
Program (JFSP). As part of these efforts, the research team reviewed more
than 200 publications of research results. Then the team convened a workshop
with 16 scientists with extensive experience in the human dimensions of fire
management issues. Workshop participants evaluated collective findings and
discussed their application to support fire management activities. In addition to this
compendium, project outputs were: 1) a synthesis of published literature specific
to eight management questions identified by the JFSP, 2) a list of future research needs, 3) a
bibliography, including abstracts, with accompanying subject area guide, and 4) a video featuring
the experiences of agency personnel and community leaders in successful collaborative fire
planning settings. This video is accompanied by a field guide for use by agency managers to more
effectively participate in building fire-safe communities.
In the sections that follow, we describe our approach to completing this review and present
key findings from the literature. Our discussion is organized around five major topical areas:
1) homeowner/community mitigation, 2) public acceptance of fuels treatments on public lands,
3) homeowner actions during a fire, 4) postfire response and recovery, and 5) wildland fire policy
and planning. The compendium concludes with a presentation of management implications and
a bibliography of all material in this review.
Authors
Eric Toman is an assistant professor at Ohio State University, College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Columbus, OH.
Melanie Stidham is a research associate at Ohio State University, College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Columbus, OH.
Sarah McCaffrey is a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research
Station, Evanston, IL.
Bruce Shindler is a professor at Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Department of
Forest Ecosystems and Society, Corvallis, OR.
Cover Photos
Top left photo used with permission by Ryan Gordon, Oregon State University. Other photos used
with permission by Melanie Stidham, Ohio State University.
Manuscript received for publication July 2012
Published by: For additional copies:
USDA FOREST SERVICE USDA Forest Service
11 CAMPUS BLVD., SUITE 200 Publications Distribution
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA 19073-3294 359 Main Road
Delaware, OH 43015-8640
March 2013 Fax: 740-368-0152
Visit our homepage at: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/
,Contents
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III. Findings/Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
IV. Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
V. Literature Cited in the Introduction and Approach . . . . . . 39
VI. Synthesis Bibliography, including Literature Cited
in Findings/Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Appendix I. Wildland Fire Workshop:
A Decade of Fire Social Science Research . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Appendix II. Subject Area Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
, I. Introduction
I. Introduction
The management of wildland fires has been a central part of the missions of
federal land management agencies in the United States since these organizations’
earliest days. 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. The most significant change in fire policy has been the shift away from
strict suppression of all wildland fires to a more flexible set of management
strategies. These strategies include proactive vegetation removal to reduce
potential fuels and allowing some naturally ignited fires to burn while being
monitored, in addition to fire suppression when deemed necessary.
Much has been written about the fire management problem and its evolution.
This report seeks to build on this existing body of knowledge to provide a
review of key findings from the social science literature related to fire-adapted
communities on the following topics: homeowner mitigation activities, wildland
fire and fuels management, community response to wildfire, postfire recovery,
and wildfire policy and planning. Our intent is to organize this information
to support local efforts by fire managers and other interested stakeholders to
foster fire-adapted communities, and to provide a context for future research.
Creating fire-adapted communities, where there is an awareness of the risk of
fire and actions have been taken to mitigate that risk and increase resilience, is
both an individual and a collective effort. It requires participation by residents
and community leaders, and often the cooperation and assistance of public land
management agencies.
Historical Perspective
Social scientists have conducted research on the human dimensions of wildland
fire management for more than 40 years. However, as illustrated in Figure 1,
the vast majority of this work has been conducted within the last decade. The
earliest inquiries into public attitudes toward fire management were completed
as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) considered modifying its policy to allow some
naturally ignited fires to burn in Wilderness areas under previously specified
conditions (e.g., location, wind speed, humidity) (U.S. Forest Service 1978).
The first prescribed natural fire (as the management practice was then known)
was allowed to burn in Montana’s Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in 1972. In a
1971 survey of users of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area, Stankey (1976)
found that visitors generally overestimated the negative impacts of fire while
underestimating fire’s beneficial effects. Not surprisingly, a majority of survey
respondents preferred complete fire suppression.
Department of
Social Science at the Wildland-Urban
Agriculture Interface: a Compendium of Research Results
Forest to Create Fire-Adapted Communities
Service
Northern Eric Toman
Research Station
Melanie Stidham
General Technical Sarah McCaffrey
Report NRS-111
Bruce Shindler
,Abstract
Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been conducted on the human dimensions
of wildland fire. Building on a relatively small number of foundational studies, this research now
addresses a wide range of topics including mitigation activities on private lands, fuels reduction
treatments on public land, community impacts and resident behaviors during fire, acceptance of
approaches to postfire restoration and recovery, and fire management policy and decisionmaking.
As this research has matured, there has been a recognition of the need to examine the full body
of resulting literature to synthesize disparate findings and identify lessons learned across studies.
These lessons can then be applied to fostering fire-adapted communities—those communities that
understand their risk and have taken action to mitigate their vulnerability and increase resilience.
This compendium of social science research findings related to fire-adapted
communities has resulted from a project funded by the Joint Fire Science
Program (JFSP). As part of these efforts, the research team reviewed more
than 200 publications of research results. Then the team convened a workshop
with 16 scientists with extensive experience in the human dimensions of fire
management issues. Workshop participants evaluated collective findings and
discussed their application to support fire management activities. In addition to this
compendium, project outputs were: 1) a synthesis of published literature specific
to eight management questions identified by the JFSP, 2) a list of future research needs, 3) a
bibliography, including abstracts, with accompanying subject area guide, and 4) a video featuring
the experiences of agency personnel and community leaders in successful collaborative fire
planning settings. This video is accompanied by a field guide for use by agency managers to more
effectively participate in building fire-safe communities.
In the sections that follow, we describe our approach to completing this review and present
key findings from the literature. Our discussion is organized around five major topical areas:
1) homeowner/community mitigation, 2) public acceptance of fuels treatments on public lands,
3) homeowner actions during a fire, 4) postfire response and recovery, and 5) wildland fire policy
and planning. The compendium concludes with a presentation of management implications and
a bibliography of all material in this review.
Authors
Eric Toman is an assistant professor at Ohio State University, College of Food, Agricultural, and
Environmental Sciences, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Columbus, OH.
Melanie Stidham is a research associate at Ohio State University, College of Food, Agricultural,
and Environmental Sciences, School of Environment and Natural Resources, Columbus, OH.
Sarah McCaffrey is a research forester with the U.S. Forest Service, Northern Research
Station, Evanston, IL.
Bruce Shindler is a professor at Oregon State University, College of Forestry, Department of
Forest Ecosystems and Society, Corvallis, OR.
Cover Photos
Top left photo used with permission by Ryan Gordon, Oregon State University. Other photos used
with permission by Melanie Stidham, Ohio State University.
Manuscript received for publication July 2012
Published by: For additional copies:
USDA FOREST SERVICE USDA Forest Service
11 CAMPUS BLVD., SUITE 200 Publications Distribution
NEWTOWN SQUARE, PA 19073-3294 359 Main Road
Delaware, OH 43015-8640
March 2013 Fax: 740-368-0152
Visit our homepage at: http://www.nrs.fs.fed.us/
,Contents
I. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
II. Approach . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
III. Findings/Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
IV. Concluding Remarks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
V. Literature Cited in the Introduction and Approach . . . . . . 39
VI. Synthesis Bibliography, including Literature Cited
in Findings/Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Appendix I. Wildland Fire Workshop:
A Decade of Fire Social Science Research . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Appendix II. Subject Area Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
, I. Introduction
I. Introduction
The management of wildland fires has been a central part of the missions of
federal land management agencies in the United States since these organizations’
earliest days. 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. The most significant change in fire policy has been the shift away from
strict suppression of all wildland fires to a more flexible set of management
strategies. These strategies include proactive vegetation removal to reduce
potential fuels and allowing some naturally ignited fires to burn while being
monitored, in addition to fire suppression when deemed necessary.
Much has been written about the fire management problem and its evolution.
This report seeks to build on this existing body of knowledge to provide a
review of key findings from the social science literature related to fire-adapted
communities on the following topics: homeowner mitigation activities, wildland
fire and fuels management, community response to wildfire, postfire recovery,
and wildfire policy and planning. Our intent is to organize this information
to support local efforts by fire managers and other interested stakeholders to
foster fire-adapted communities, and to provide a context for future research.
Creating fire-adapted communities, where there is an awareness of the risk of
fire and actions have been taken to mitigate that risk and increase resilience, is
both an individual and a collective effort. It requires participation by residents
and community leaders, and often the cooperation and assistance of public land
management agencies.
Historical Perspective
Social scientists have conducted research on the human dimensions of wildland
fire management for more than 40 years. However, as illustrated in Figure 1,
the vast majority of this work has been conducted within the last decade. The
earliest inquiries into public attitudes toward fire management were completed
as the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) considered modifying its policy to allow some
naturally ignited fires to burn in Wilderness areas under previously specified
conditions (e.g., location, wind speed, humidity) (U.S. Forest Service 1978).
The first prescribed natural fire (as the management practice was then known)
was allowed to burn in Montana’s Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness in 1972. In a
1971 survey of users of the Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness area, Stankey (1976)
found that visitors generally overestimated the negative impacts of fire while
underestimating fire’s beneficial effects. Not surprisingly, a majority of survey
respondents preferred complete fire suppression.
