California wildfires [Chapter 7]

Abstract

The social, economic, and ecological impacts of wildfire are an increasing concern in many areas of the world. In North America, the U.S. state of California stands out in terms of recent - 2017 and 2018 - high-loss fire events. California provides an interesting case study to examine the social, economic, and ecological conditions that influence and are affected by wildfire. California is the most populated U.S. state with an estimated 2018 population of over 39 million, or 12 percent of the total U.S. population. The California population is highly urbanized - 94 percent - with 1.8 million Californians distributed across rural areas. If California were an independent nation, it would rank as the world’s fifth largest economy. California has a range of fire-dependent ecosystems - landscapes that have evolved with varying frequency and intensity of wildfire - from Mediterranean chaparral, oak savanna, and conifer-dominated systems. These ecosystems span differently managed geographies, including 100 federally recognized reservations or rancherias, seven other tribal areas, eight national parks, one national seashore, three districts of the Bureau of Land Management, and 18 national forests. Further, development patterns vary considerably from expansive suburban sprawl in southern and central coastal California to relatively rural isolated development in the forested northern portions of the state.

Citation

Calkin, David; Short, Karen; Traci, Meg. 2019. California wildfires [Chapter 7]. In: Rubin, Claire B.; Cutter, Susan L., eds. U.S. Emergency Management in the 21st Century: From Disaster to Catastrophe. Routledge. p. 155-182.