Factors influencing wildfire management decisions after the 2009 US federal policy update

Stephen D. Fillmore; Sarah McCaffrey; Rachel Bean; Alexander M. Evans; Jose Iniguez; Andrea Thode; Alistair M. S. Smith; Matthew P. Thompson

doi:10.1071/WF23129

RESEARCH ARTICLE (Open Access)

Previous Next Contents Vol 33(1)

Factors influencing wildfire management decisions after the 2009 US federal policy update

Stephen D. Fillmore

^A ^* , Sarah McCaffrey ^B , Rachel Bean ^C , Alexander M. Evans ^C , Jose Iniguez ^D , Andrea Thode ^E , Alistair M. S. Smith ^F and Matthew P. Thompson ^G

+ Author Affiliations

- Author Affiliations

^A USDA Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, 24321 Viejas Grade Road, Descanso, San Diego, CA 91916, USA.

^B USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station (ret.), Ft. Collins, CO, USA.

^C Forest Stewards Guild, Santa Fe, NM, USA.

^D USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.

^E School of Forestry, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, USA.

^F Department of Earth and Spatial Sciences, College of Science, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA.

^G USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station, Fort Collins, CO, USA.

^* Correspondence to: stephen.fillmore@usda.gov

International Journal of Wildland Fire 33, WF23129 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF23129

Submitted: 9 August 2023 Accepted: 21 December 2023 Published: 12 January 2024

© 2024 The Author(s) (or their employer(s)). Published by CSIRO Publishing on behalf of IAWF. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND)

Abstract

Background

The decision making process undertaken during wildfire responses is complex and prone to uncertainty. In the US, decisions federal land managers make are influenced by numerous and often competing factors.

Aims

To assess and validate the presence of decision factors relevant to the wildfire decision making context that were previously known and to identify those that have emerged since the US federal wildfire policy was updated in 2009.

Methods

Interviews were conducted across the US while wildfires were actively burning to elucidate time-of-fire decision factors. Data were coded and thematically analysed.

Key results

Most previously known decision factors as well as numerous emergent factors were identified.

Conclusions

To contextualise decision factors within the decision making process, we offer a Wildfire Decision Framework that has value for policy makers seeking to improve decision making, managers improving their process and wildfire social science researchers.

Implications

Managers may gain a better understanding of their decision environment and use our framework as a tool to validate their deliberations. Researchers may use these data to help explain the various pressures and influences modern land and wildfire managers experience. Policy makers and agencies may take institutional steps to align the actions of their staff with desired wildfire outcomes.

Keywords: agency administrators, decision making, framework, managed fire, risk, strategy, suppression, US federal policy, wildland fire, USDA Forest Service.

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