Insights into how Community Wildfire Protection Plans act as drivers of wildfire preparedness

Wildfire poses an increasing threat to communities in the Western US, driven by climate change and rising human settlement in the wildland-urban interface (WUI). It is imperative that communities in fire-prone areas become “fire-adapted” to safely manage their risk. Community Wildfire Protection Plans (CWPPs) constitute an approach by the federal government to enable communities to collaboratively plan for, and adapt to, wildfire. How well these plans have enabled at-risk rural Colorado communities to become “fire-adapted” since their development is still debated. Through interviews with key informants, we explored the role of CWPPs in building fire-adapted Colorado WUI communities since their development. We found that CWPPs are most effective in communities with certain characteristics that either necessitate a CWPP or create an enabling environment for plan success. Overall, our results highlight the importance of community context in adaptation planning and that CWPPs are not a “one size fits all” solution for WUI communities.