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

Abstract

<jats:p>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 body of research has developed on the human dimensions of wildland fire covering diverse 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 two aspects of a Joint Fire Science Program project intended to take stock of the key social science lessons provided to date: a basic review of findings in the non-economic fire social science literature and identification of future research needs.</jats:p>

Public information seeking, place-based risk messaging and wildfire preparedness in southern California

“…For instance, local information seeking and public information dissemination influence both locally specific risk perception (Brenkert-Smith et al 2013) and wildfire preparedness actions (McCaffrey 2004). Recent social science literature related to wildfire demonstrates a clear relationship between risk perception, public communication, information seeking and preparedness actions, but less knowledge exists on the effects of prefire interaction and incident communication with local residents (McCaffrey et al 2013a). Our study addresses a significant gap in communication literature examining how to integrate geographically specific threat indices into public information dissemination efforts, establishing whether information-seeking patterns in southern California mirror information-seeking patterns in other areas, and by considering renters as well as homeowners in our study.…”

Advances in understanding and managing wildland fire: communicating wildland fire research to land-management practitioners

“…As wildfires increasingly intersected with the wildland-urban interface interest grew in understanding the role of social science dynamics. McCaffrey et al (2013) have reviewed the development of human dimensions of wildland fire, including the social acceptability of fire and fuels management, public responses during fires and post-fire recovery. The review was based in grounded theory that identified conceptual categories and their relationships (Glaser and Strauss 1967).…”

“…The need to expand and integrate the spatial and temporal scope of fire and fuels research and analysis is perhaps the theme with broadest applicability (e.g. Hyde et al 2013;McCaffrey et al 2013;Miller and Ager 2013;Robichaud and Ashmun 2013).…”

Historical perspective on the influence of wildfire policy, law, and informal institutions on management and forest resilience in a multiownership, frequent-fire, coupled human and natural system in Oregon, USA

“…An important research area is the influence of institutions (e.g., policy) and associated processes (policy evolution) on wildfire management flexibility and behavior (Busenburg 2004, Stephens and Ruth 2005, Steelman and Burke 2007, McCaffrey et al 2013. Institutions are the systems of established and prevalent social rules that structure human decision making and behavior within social groups and in relation to the natural world (Ostrom 1990, North 1990, Crawford and Ostrom 1995, Helmke and Levitsky 2004, Hodgson 2006.…”