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Project ID: 11-3-1-29

Year: 2011

Date Started: 08/01/2011

Date Completed: 12/19/2012

Title: Affecting Risk: Improving Hazard Communication in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Project Proposal Abstract: ABSTRACT Affecting Risk: Improving Hazard Communication in the Wildland-Urban Interface PI: Melissa W. Wright, The Pennsylvania State University Co-PI: Destiny D. Aman, The Pennsylvania State University Wildfire hazard is a growing problem in many areas of the United States, especially in the wildland-urban interface, where homes and other structures border or intermingle with forests, shrubs and grasslands. Despite years of educational outreach by fire management officials promoting effective and affordable mitigation strategies, research shows that residents, especially seasonal residents and those new to an area, still tend to under-invest in mitigation, even when they perceive their risk to be high. This problem has led to increased research on what factors influence wildfire hazard mitigation behavior, as well as how to improve communication and facilitate public involvement in strategic planning for wildland fire. Increasingly, researchers are uncovering the importance of the emotional relationships that residents have with certain places and that, in turn, affect the perception, communication, and mitigation of risk. Using a qualitative, ethnographic approach, this work addresses important questions about how emotion interacts with wildfire hazard perception to promote or hinder communication and subsequent mitigation in the wildland-urban interface. One goal of this research is to address this gap between risk management approaches and relevant scientific research on emotion and behavior. A second and related goal is to provide information that can be used by risk managers on the ground to incorporate emotional connection in addition to reasoned responses in wildfire mitigation efforts. Risk managers at various institutional levels of fire management could use this information to develop a more holistic view of wildfire hazard and, thus, better design their collaborative efforts with residents.

Principal Investigator: Melissa W. Wright

Agency/Organization: Pennsylvania State University

Branch or Dept: College of Earth & Mineral Sciences

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Budget Contact	Susan A. Lavan	Pennsylvania State University	College of Earth & Mineral Sciences
Co-Principal Investigator	Destiny D. Aman	Pennsylvania State University	Department of Geography
Grants and Agreements Contact	David W. Richardson	Pennsylvania State University	Office of Sponsored Programs

Project Locations

Consortium

California

Level	State	Agency	Unit
STATE	CA	PRIVATE	Private lands

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

	ID	Type	Title
	10208	NonRefereed Publication	Fighting Fire with Nature: How Resident Affinity for ’Natural’ Landscapes Can be Used to Promote Wildfire Mitigation in the Wildland-Urban Interface
	10207	NonRefereed Publication	Fighting Fire with Nature: How Homeowner Preference for ’Natural’ Landscapes Can be Used to Promote Wildfire Mitigation in the Wildland-Urban Interface
	10230	Photo	Photo 6
	10229	Photo	Photo 5
	10228	Photo	Photo 4
	10227	Photo	Photo 3
	10226	Photo	Photo 2
	10225	Photo	Photo 1
	10209	Poster	Fighting Fire with Nature: How Homeowner Preference for ’Natural’ Landscapes Can be Used to Promote Wildfire Mitigation in the Wildland-Urban Interface

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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