Is Wildfire Policy in the United States Sustainable?

Beginning in 2000, wildfire policy in the United States shifted from focusing almost exclusively on suppression to embracing multiple goals, including hazardous fuels reduction, ecosystem restoration, and community assistance. Mutually reinforcing, these policy goals have the potential to result in...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of forestry 2007-03, Vol.105 (2), p.67-72
Main Authors: Steelman, T.A, Burke, C.A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Climate change
Community
Environmentalists
Federal government
Fires
Forest & brush fires
Forest management
forest policy
Government agencies
issues and policy
Risk
Sustainable development
wildfires
wildland-urban interface
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Summary:Beginning in 2000, wildfire policy in the United States shifted from focusing almost exclusively on suppression to embracing multiple goals, including hazardous fuels reduction, ecosystem restoration, and community assistance. Mutually reinforcing, these policy goals have the potential to result in an ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable wildfire policy that can mitigate the long-term risk of wildfires for human and ecological communities alike. Six years into this new policy, we evaluate the evidence to determine how well the multiple goals are being served. We conclude that suppression and hazardous fuels reduction receive greater attention and resources relative to ecosystem restoration and community assistance. This provides an incomplete solution to mitigating the long-term risk of wildfire, thereby running the risk of perpetuating it. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0022-1201
1938-3746
DOI:10.1093/jof/105.2.67