Factors Influencing the Development of Rangeland Fire Protection Associations: Exploring Fire Mitigation Programs for Rural, Resource-Based Communities

Integrating Rangeland Fire Planning and Management: The Scales, Actors, and Processes

“…Yet models such as these do not necessarily capitalize on wildfire response capacities and motivations to mitigate risk characteristic of natural resourcedependent communities. On Great Basin rangelands, communities often possess experiential knowledge or social memory of wildfire ( Stasiewicz and Paveglio 2017 ;Davis et al 2020 ) and are motivated by a shared economic interest in preventing wildfires ( Toledo et al 2012 ;Abrams et al 2017 ).…”

“…Large-scale wildfires in the northern Great Basin of the western United States (i.e., > 400 ha; Smith et al, this issue) are increasing in frequency, underlining the need for new, strategic approaches to rangeland and fire planning and management. Research continually adds to our understandings of the ecological factors and biophysical processes driving these trends (e.g., Holmgren et al 2006 ;Abatzoglou and Kolden 2013 ;Balch et al 2013 ;Coates et al 2016 ;Pilliod et al 2017 ;Bradley et al 2018 ), as well as social conditions and policy configurations that may enable effective responses (e.g., Stasiewicz and Paveglio 2017 ;Abrams et al 2018 ; Taken together, there is abundant science-based information available to support managers' decisions to reduce wildfire risk and improve ecological outcomes of fire. Using this science to then implement appropriate activities on the ground in a relevant timeframe and at meaningful scales is an entirely different challenge ( Li et al 2020 ;Wardropper et al 2021 ).…”

“…Large-scale wildfires in the northern Great Basin of the western United States (i.e., > 400 ha; Smith et al, this issue) are increasing in frequency, underlining the need for new, strategic approaches to rangeland and fire planning and management. Research continually adds to our understandings of the ecological factors and biophysical processes driving these trends (e.g., Holmgren et al 2006; Abatzoglou and Kolden 2013; Balch et al 2013; Coates et al 2016; Pilliod et al 2017; Bradley et al 2018), as well as social conditions and policy configurations that may enable effective responses (e.g., Stasiewicz and Paveglio 2017; Abrams et al 2018; Wollstein et al 2021). Yet even with advances in forecasting rangeland fire probabilities and likely ecological consequences of fire (e.g., Chambers et al 2014; Smith et al this issue), it remains difficult for managers to identify, prioritize, and then engage in coordinated activities that will mitigate fire risk at a meaningful scale and, importantly, promote fire resilience (Collins et al 2010; Busby et al 2012; Ager et al 2015; Smith et al 2016; McWethy et al 2019; Charnley et al 2020; Wollstein et al 2022a).…”

Rangeland Fire Protection Associations as disaster response organisations

“…RFPAs are a component of recent nationwide rangeland fire management strategies such as the Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy (2015), which states that they are ‘essential to provide local protection and offer another way of extending suppression assets and ensuring that we have as many trained “boots on the ground” for initial attack as possible’ (Rangeland Fire Task Force, , p. 14). However, there is little information on or studies or reviews of how RFPAs are organised, their interface with the BLM, or the outcomes of their work—for a notable exception, see Stasiewicz and Paveglio ().…”

“…Citizens living in fire‐prone areas may be expected to prepare their immediate home environment for such an event, and to participate in planning efforts to reduce risk in the environments around them; when a fire occurs, they rely on professional firefighters to protect their property, they may often evacuate, and they may utilise insurance to cover any costs (Kousky, Olmstead, and Sedjo, ). However, there is mounting evidence that residents in communities that are more rural, remote, and oriented towards natural resource industries, such as forestry and ranching, are more motivated and equipped to participate in suppression themselves, and they are less likely to defer to governmental or other official authorities (Paveglio et al, ; Stasiewicz and Paveglio, ).…”