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Project ID:

25-2-01-4

Year:

2025

Date Started:

12/01/2025

Date Completed:

Title:

Spurring evidence-based wildfire adaptation through research-practitioner partnerships: What gets measured gets managed

Project Proposal Abstract:

Proposal Purpose and Objectives
Fire is a natural and essential part of many ecosystems, however, wildfires become disasters when they cause substantial harm to social and natural systems. Confronting wildfire risk requires a transformative approach that integrates fire and social sciences and yields insights that are actionable for local practitioners working on the frontline of mitigating risk in and preparing communities for wildfire. This project is built on the assumption that what gets measured gets managed and conducts data collection at a scale that yields actionable insights to inform management strategies for communities and the local practitioners that serve them. The project objectives are to collaborate with the Southwest Idaho All Lands Partnership (ALP) to collect, integrate, and leverage biophysical (parcel-level risk assessments) and paired social (household surveys) data to yield actionable insights for the ALP’s work on wildfire risk reduction and community wildfire adaptation in the Southwest Idaho Crisis Strategy Landscape. The work’s focus on biophysical and social measures of what contributes to risk within fire-prone communities shifts what is measured to facilitate more efficient and effective management of community wildfire risk.

Activities to be Performed
The methodological approach is called the WiRē (pronounced “wy-ree", Wildfire Research) Approach, and involves standardized data collection at the local scale allowing for replication across space and time. Rooted in fire and social science, the approach intertwines research and practice, transforming community wildfire adaptation by ensuring that the science is useful and used. The work advances fire science to characterize wildfire risk by measuring wildfire susceptibility within communities using variables that measure wildfire hazards at the scale at which decisions and actions reduce parcel and community risk and starts with parcel-level risk assessments conducted on every residential parcel in the study area. Assessment data are paired with household survey data from homeowners (parcel decision makers) and provide insights into community risk and how to improve wildfire adaptation. Results enable proper identification of barriers to action and pathways to increase residents’ mitigation and preparedness efforts and to keep communities safe.

Expected Deliverables
The WiRē Approach is a collaborative process that fosters learning between research and practice. Deliverables include parcel-level risk maps (static and dynamic GIS), summarized social data, tailored presentations and data visualizations for a variety of audiences and users, an outreach mailer to residents in study area connecting them to local resources, and a final report. Actionable insights will be collaboratively produced with project partners to better support wildfire adaptation.

Benefits
The approach prioritizes measuring wildfire susceptibility within fire-prone communities rather than risk to communities – at a scale in which integration of biophysical and social data is translatable into actionable insights for property owners, communities, and the local wildfire mitigation practitioners serving them. Project benefits lie in focusing on conditions that directly influence home ignition likelihood and home-to-home transmission that result in wildfire disasters and that are largely within homeowner control. In doing so, homeowners (and their properties) are treated as both recipients of and contributors to wildfire risk, and central partners in action to mitigate risk and prepare for wildfire. Such adaptive action reduces federal suppression costs. Local wildfire practitioners will benefit from training and training materials to conduct rapid risk assessments, and the data collection tool for future use. The research will also contribute to core fire and social science on hazards, disasters, and natural resource management, and the dynamics of wildfire adaptation.

Principal Investigator:

Hannah BP Brenkert-Smith

Agency/Organization:

University of Colorado-Boulder

Branch or Dept:

Institute of Behavioral Science

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Agreements Contact	Genevieve Hurst	University of Colorado-Boulder	Sponsored Programs
Budget Contact	Genevieve Hurst	University of Colorado-Boulder	Sponsored Programs
Co-Principal Investigator	James R. Meldrum	USGS-Geological Survey	FORT-Fort Collins Science Center
Co-Principal Investigator	Patricia A. Champ	Forest Service	RMRS-Rocky Mountain Research Station