The Stewardship Mapping Project (STEW-MAP): Southwest Idaho
The Southwest Idaho landscape covers 1.7 million acres from the Boise foothills north through and beyond McCall and includes portions of six counties. About half of the land in the landscape is part of Payette and Boise National Forests. The remaining acres of the landscape are made up of private, state, and other federal land. The combination of ignitions, build-up in flammable vegetation, and expanding wildland-urban interface at lower elevations has resulted in a growing need for cross-boundary, landscape-scale fuels treatment that promote community and landscape resiliency.
The Southwest Idaho Landscape stretches from Boise to north of McCall and includes portions of Boise and Payette National Forests.
Wildfires across the United States have resulted in rising ecological and social costs and impacts. More homes and communities are threatened by wildfires resulting from longer and hotter summers, an expanding wildland-urban interface, and a legacy of fire exclusion. The Fueling Adaptation research team combined methodologies from STEW-MAP and Co-Management of Fire Risk Transmission (CoMFRT) to study collaborative wildfire governance networks in landscapes of the western United States at high risk of wildfire.
Complex patterns of land ownership mean it is critical to understand how non-U.S. Forest Service actors are mitigating and managing risk. The Fueling Adaptations research team sought to identify who the actors involved in wildfire governance are, where they physically work on the landscape, with whom they collaborate, in what ways, and how they perceive their outcomes.
In the fall of 2024, the Fueling Adaptation research team conducted an online survey of organizations involved in wildfire risk management, land stewardship, or community development to learn where they work, who they work with, and how they collaborate. The information collected is summarized in a publicly available report and explorable through the interactive online platform Southwest Idaho FireCollabMap.
The survey identified 100+ organizations and 250+ partnerships involved in wildfire management and adaptation across Southwest Idaho. There are a wide range of actors including federal and state agencies, local government organizations, non-governmental organizations, fire districts, universities, and private sector firms. Partnerships are predominantly informal (~75%), with collaboration occurring without any formal agreements. Organizations vary widely in financial resources, staffing, and the geographic areas they have the capacity to serve.
The Fueling Adaptation Research team
- Lindsay K. Campbell, PhD, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service
- Miranda H. Mockrin, PhD, Research Scientist, USDA Forest Service
- Cody Evers, Portland State University
- Michelle Johnson, formerly U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station
- Max Nielsen-Pincus, Portland State University
- Mahmood Muttaqee, Portland State University
- Kathy Hixson, Portland State University
- Olivia Awbrey, University of Oregon
- Erika Svendsen, formerly U.S. Forest Service Northern Research Station
Collaborators
Payette and Boise National Forests