Wildfire disasters threaten numerous communities and ecosystems in America today. An effective policy strategy to counteract the threat of wildfire disasters would entail the reduction of accumulated fuels (flammable organic materials) found across large areas in many American ecosystems. Major uncertainties surround this policy endeavor because fuel reduction has never been attempted on such large scales before. This study outlines an adaptive policy strategy designed to resolve these uncertainties through a systematic process of learning. An adaptive wildfire policy would employ fuel reduction experiments on large scales, with the goal of generating new knowledge to progressively improve the effectiveness of fuel reduction strategies over time.
Andrews, R. N. L. (1999). Managing the environment, managing ourselves: A history of American environmental policy. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
2.
Busenberg, G. J. (2001). Learning in organizations and public policy. Journal of Public Policy, 21, 173-189.
3.
Busenberg, G. J. (2004). Wildfire management in the United States: The evolution of a policy failure. Review of Policy Research, 21, 145-156.
4.
California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection & USDA Forest Service. (2003). California Fire Siege 2003: The story. Retrieved January 22, 2004, from http://www.fire.ca.gov
5.
Carle, D. (2002). Burning questions: America’s fight with nature’s fire. New York: Praeger.
6.
Fulé, P. Z., Covington, W. W., & Moore, M. M. (1997). Determining reference conditions for ecosystem management of southwestern ponderosa pine forests. Ecological Applications, 7, 895-908.
7.
Fulé, P. Z., Covington, W. W., Smith, H. B., Springer, J. D., Heinlein, T. A., Huisinga, K. D., et al. (2002). Comparing ecological restoration alternatives: Grand Canyon, Arizona. Forest Ecology and Management, 170, 19-41.
8.
Gates, P. W. (1968). History of public land law development. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
9.
Holling, C. S. (Ed.). (1978). Adaptive environmental assessment and management. New York: John Wiley.
10.
Insurance Services Office. (1997). The wildland/urban fire hazard. New York: Author.
11.
Lee, K. N. (1993). Compass and gyroscope: Integrating science and politics for the environment. Washington, DC: Island Press.
12.
Mast, J. N., Fulé, P. Z., Moore, M. M., Covington, W. W., & Waltz, A. E. M. (1999). Restoration of presettlement age structure of an Arizona ponderosa pine forest. Ecological Applications, 9, 228-239.
13.
Moore, M. M., Covington, W. W., & Fulé, P. Z. (1999). Reference conditions and ecological restoration: A southwestern ponderosa pine perspective. Ecological Applications, 9, 1266-1277.
14.
National Commission on Wildfire Disasters. (1994). Report of the National Commission on Wildfire Disasters. Washington, DC: American Forests.
15.
Pyne, S. J. (1982). Fire in America: A cultural history of wildland and rural fire. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
16.
Schiff, A. L. (1962). Fire and water: Scientific heresy in the Forest Service. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
17.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. (1996). Conference on adaptive ecosystem restoration and management: Restoration of cordilleran conifer landscapes of North America. Fort Collins, CO: USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Forest and Range Experiment Station.
18.
U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service. (2000). Protecting people and sustaining resources in fire-adapted ecosystems: A cohesive strategy. Retrieved February 10, 2003, from www.fs.fed.us/publications
19.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1990). Federal fire management: Limited progress in restarting the prescribed fire program. Washington, DC: Author.
20.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1999a). Western national forests: A cohesive strategy is needed to address catastrophic wildfire threats. Washington, DC: Author.
21.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (1999b). Western national forests: Nearby communities are increasingly threatened by catastrophic wildfires. Washington, DC: Author.
22.
U.S. General Accounting Office. (2003). Wildland fire management: Additional actions required to better identify and prioritize lands needing fuels reduction. Washington, DC: Author.
23.
van Wagtendonk, J. W. (1991). The evolution of National Park Service fire policy. Fire Management Notes, 52(4), 10-15.
24.
Walters, C. J. (1986). Adaptive management of renewable resources. New York: Macmillan.
25.
Walters, C. J., & Holling, C. S. (1990). Large-scale management experiments and learning by doing. Ecology, 71, 2060-2068.
26.
Western Governors’ Association, U.S. Department of Agriculture, & U.S. Department of the Interior. (2001). A collaborative approach for reducing wildland fire risks to communities and the environment: 10-year comprehensive strategy. Denver, CO: Western Governors’ Association.
27.
Wise, C. R., & Freitag, C. M. (2002). Balancing accountability and risk in program implementation: The case of national fire policy. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 12, 493-523.
