Barriers to community-directed fire restoration

Abstract

Wild fire disasters create novel situations and challenges for natural resource managers, including working with emergent community groups that have a great deal of motivation for change, little familiarity with agency protocol, and strong preferences for the goals and methods of forest fire restoration, some of which may run counter to agency norms. After a fire, managers thus have a unique, but challenging, opportunity to foster collaborative efforts with these groups. A qualitative study based on interviews, e-mail discussions, and publications examines one such situation following the 2003 wildfires near San Diego. A group of highly trained, capable, conservation-minded citizens organized to advance their vision for regional restoration. The enormous collaborative potential of the emergent group was not realized, in part because they had difficulties interacting with natural resource managers attempting to implement established agency programs.

Parent Publication

• The public and wildland fire management: social science findings for managers

Citation

Hull, R. Bruce; Goldstein, Bruce E. 2006. Barriers to community-directed fire restoration. In: McCaffrey, S.M., tech. ed. The public and wildland fire management: social science findings for managers. Gen. Tech. Rep. NRS-1. Newtown Square, PA: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Northern Research Station: 77-85.