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Does Wildfire Open a Policy Window? Local Government and Community Adaptation After Fire in the United States

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Abstract

Becoming a fire adapted community that can coexist with wildfire is envisioned as a continuous, iterative process of adaptation, but it is unclear how communities may pursue adaptation. Experience with wildfire and other natural hazards suggests that disasters may open a “window of opportunity” leading to local government policy changes. We examined how destructive wildfire affected progress toward becoming fire adapted in eight locations in the United States. We found that community-level adaptation following destructive fires is most common where destructive wildfire is novel and there is already government capacity and investment in wildfire regulation and land use planning. External funding, staff capacity, and the presence of issue champions combined to bring about change after wildfire. Locations with long histories of destructive wildfire, extensive previous investment in formal wildfire regulation and mitigation, or little government and community capacity to manage wildfire saw fewer changes. Across diverse settings, communities consistently used the most common tools and actions for wildfire mitigation and planning. Nearly all sites reported changes in wildfire suppression, emergency response, and hazard planning documents. Expansion in voluntary education and outreach programs to increase defensible space was also common, occurring in half of our sites, but land use planning and regulations remained largely unchanged. Adaptation at the community and local governmental level therefore may not axiomatically follow from each wildfire incident, nor easily incorporate formal approaches to minimizing land use and development in hazardous environments, but in many sites wildfire was a focusing event that inspired reflection and adaptation.

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Notes

  1. In California, communities may pursue the similar California Fire Safe Council program, but none were located near the housing losses in the Station CA site. Nevada’s Fire Safe Council program folded before the Caughlin Ranch NV event, and neither Firewise nor Fire Safe Councils were expanded afterwards, although the fire departments were encouraging Firewise participation in Washoe County.

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Acknowledgements

We are indebted to all interviewees for sharing their time and expertise and gratefully acknowledge support from Joint Fire Science Funding Program (award 14-2-01-6) and National Fire Plan funding from the USDA Forest Service (Northern Research Station and Rocky Mountain Research Station). Kathryn Thomason assisted with document review.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 5523 Research Park Drive Suite 350, Baltimore, MD, 21228, USA

    Miranda H. Mockrin

  2. Oregon State University, School of Public Policy, 300 Bexell Hall, 2251 SW Campus Way, Corvallis, OR, 97331, USA

    Hillary K. Fishler

  3. Department of Forest and Wildlife Ecology, University of Wisconsin, 1630 Linden Dr, Madison, WI, 53706, USA

    Susan I. Stewart

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  1. Miranda H. Mockrin
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  2. Hillary K. Fishler
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  3. Susan I. Stewart
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Correspondence to Miranda H. Mockrin.

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Mockrin, M.H., Fishler, H.K. & Stewart, S.I. Does Wildfire Open a Policy Window? Local Government and Community Adaptation After Fire in the United States. Environmental Management 62, 210–228 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-018-1030-9

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