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30 June 2023 Integrating Rangeland Fire Planning and Management: The Scales, Actors, and Processes
Katherine Wollstein, Dustin D. Johnson
Author Affiliations +
Abstract

Research continually adds to our understanding of the ecological factors and biophysical processes driving frequent, large-scale fires on Great Basin rangelands in the western United States. Yet even with advances in forecasting rangeland fire probabilities and likely ecological outcomes of fire, it remains difficult for individuals, communities, or organizations to coordinate their actions across jurisdictions and at an ecologically relevant scale to address collective wildfire risk. In this forum, we discuss current institutional arrangements that perpetuate scale mismatches in this system; that is, institutional objectives, authorities, and capacities that limit coordinated actions to mitigate collective wildfire risk. We make a case for fireshed-scale coordination via rangeland Fireshed Councils, proposed rangeland and fire planning and management units that have both biophysical and social relevance to individuals and organizations engaged in fire risk mitigation. A rangeland Fireshed Council offers a venue for diverse group members to mix and match their respective rules and tools to navigate institutional barriers and capacity challenges in new ways. Operating in a collective arrangement at this scale aims to ensure that an individual's or entity's activities transcend traditional modes of planning (i.e., parcel-scale), complement concurrent management activities, and translate to fire-resilient landscapes and human communities. Rangeland Fireshed Councils will require resources and support from high governance levels for sustainability and legitimacy and relative autonomy to determine how best to support local needs.

Katherine Wollstein and Dustin D. Johnson "Integrating Rangeland Fire Planning and Management: The Scales, Actors, and Processes," Rangeland Ecology and Management 89(1), 104-112, (30 June 2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2023.01.010
Published: 30 June 2023
KEYWORDS
collaboration
fire resilience
governance
integrated fire management
scale
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