Mapping Community Capacity to Reduce Vulnerability to Wildfire in Colorado, USA

Communities can face significant risk from wildfire, often compounded by climate change and legacies of industrial forest management. Policies and collaborative approaches for managing wildfire risk have evolved to include greater roles and responsibilities for these communities, yet local communities often lack the capacity to plan and implement actions to reduce risk of, respond to, and recover from wildfire. In this paper, we explore spatial patterns of local capacity relative to wildfire risk across the state of Colorado, USA, with the aim of informing efforts to reduce vulnerability. Significant resources are directed toward modeling and mapping wildfire risk at such policy-relevant scales, but complementary representations of local capacity are largely lacking. We use publicly available data, weighted by perceptions from wildfire scientists and practitioners, to create an index of local capacity. Results highlight variable geographic distribution of local capacity, including notable disparities with respect to wildfire risk. While the importance of funding is well documented, results show how local residents and managers may be able to leverage different strengths both in the presence and absence of external funding to respond to wildfire risks. Conclusions inform policy and management in efforts to direct funding and support to local communities most vulnerable to wildfire, while acknowledging that different communities have varying needs.