Risk terminology primer: Basic principles and a glossary for the wildland fire management community

Risk management is being increasingly promoted as an appropriate method for addressing wildland fire management challenges. However, a lack of a common understanding of risk concepts and terminology is hindering effective application. In response, this General Technical Report provides a set of clear, consistent, understandable, and usable definitions for terms associated with wildland fire risk management. The material presented herein is not brand-new or innovative per se, but rather synthesizes the extant science so that readers can readily make a crosswalk to the professional literature. The broad objectives of this effort are to provide context and information to support application of risk terminology across all levels of risk management, and to facilitate clear exchange of data, information, and ideas among fire management officers, staff, and scientists.