Research Database
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10
Farming and ranching through wildfire: Producers’ critical role in fire risk management and emergency response
Year: 2025
Wildfires increasingly threaten California’s agricultural sector, posing serious risks to farming, ranching, and food systems. We conducted a survey of 505 California farmers and ranchers affected by wildfires between 2017 and 2023. Main findings show that wildfires’ impacts on producers are extensive and range from mild to catastrophic, with both short and long-term repercussions, regardless of their exposure level. Producers play a central role in community emergency wildfire risk response and management by reducing fuel loads, creating defensible space, and leveraging their fire management…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Shaping Land Use Patterns in the Wildland-Urban Interface: The Role of State and Local Governments in Reducing Exposure to Wildfire Risks
Year: 2025
Development in the wildland-urban interface is increasing exposure to wildfire risks in the western United States. Yet, among the components of risk—hazard, vulnerability, and exposure—mitigating exposure has arguably been most difficult. In this report, we describe the set of interconnected state and local policies that affect development and risk exposure, including local land use planning and zoning, state policies governing insurance, building codes, and infrastructure spending, as well as the role of states as intermediaries between the federal government and localities. We discuss…
Publication Type: Report
Bucking the suppression status quo: incentives to shift the wildfire management paradigm around natural ignitions
Year: 2025
Background: Wildfire policy has evolved rapidly over the past three decades, necessitating repeated shifts in management and communication strategies for US land management agencies. One growing focus considers the use of “other than full suppression” (OTFS) strategies, where managers use natural ignitions to achieve management objectives when conditions allow. While policy and guidance give managers operational flexibility, various sociopolitical, operational, and organizational factors contribute to risk aversion that inhibits OTFS use. This research investigates if…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Do natural hazard events and disasters trigger political and legislative change? A systematic scoping review of the impacts on commodity production.
Year: 2025
Food and fibre commodity production is fundamental to global food security and economic development. However, these commodities are vulnerable to different natural hazards. In this systematic scoping review, we assess the natural hazards literature to determine if and how specific natural hazard events that impact food and fibre commodity production have triggered political or legislative change. Bibliometric and thematic analysis methods were used to identify recurrent patterns and themes in the dataset. Bibliometric analysis confirmed robust international cooperation on hazards and…
Publication Type: Journal Article
The 2023 wildfires in British Columbia, Canada: impacts, drivers, and transformations to coexist with wildfire
Year: 2025
In 2023, all regions of British Columbia (BC) experienced record-breaking fire weather and wildfires, with extreme behavior and social-ecological effects. In total, 2245 wildfires burned 2840 545 hectares. Contemporary wildfires are the culmination of a century of altered human–forest–wildfire relationships, exacerbated by climate change. Transformative change is urgently needed for the ecosystems and communities to be resilient to wildfire. We present six interrelated strategies needed to amplify the pace and scale of change in response to recent wildfire extremes: (1) Immediately diversify…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Designing Burn Windows for Integrated Fire Management in Wetlands: Why Should Flooding Not Be Overlooked?
Year: 2025
Changes in natural wildfire patterns can cause significant impacts on biodiversity, health, and economies. This has sparked discussions on better fire management. One strategy used by countries is Integrated Fire Management (IFM), with prescribed burning as one of the main tools. Prescribed burns effectively depend on specific burn windows. These windows, defined as flood-free areas like savannas, may not suit wetlands due to the influence of flooding on factors like fuel availability. We examined how hydrological patterns affect burn windows in wetlands, using the Pantanal as a model—the…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Mobile radar provides insights into hydrologic responses in burn areas
Year: 2025
Background. Wildfires often occur in mountainous terrain, regions that pose substantial challenges to operational meteorological and hydrologic observing networks. Aims. A mobile, postfire hydrometeorological observatory comprising remote-sensing and in situ instrumentation was developed and deployed in a burnt area to provide unique insights into rainfall-induced post-fire hazards. Methods. Mobile radar-based rainfall estimates were produced throughout the burn area at 75-m resolution and compared with rain gauge accumulations and basin response variables. Key results. The mobile radar was…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Wildfires drive multi-year water quality degradation over the western United States
Year: 2025
Wildfires can dramatically alter water quality, resulting in severe implications for human and freshwater systems. However, regional-scale assessments of these impacts are often limited by data scarcity. Here, we unify observations from 1984–2021 in 245 burned watersheds across the western United States, comparing post-fire signals to baseline levels from 293 unburned basins. Organic carbon and phosphorus exhibit significantly elevated levels (p ≤ 0.05) in the first 1–5 years post-fire, while nitrogen and sediment show significant increases up to 8 years post-fire. During peak post-…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Wildfire and forest treatments mitigate–but cannot forestall–climate-driven changes in streamflow regimes in a western US mountain landscape
Year: 2025
Warming temperatures and increasingly variable precipitation patterns are reducing winter snowpack and critical late-season streamflows. Here, we used two models (LANDIS-II and DHSVM) in linked simulations to evaluate the effects of wildfire and forest management scenarios on future snowpack and streamflow dynamics. We characterized the biophysical attributes of the areas with the greatest potential for treatments to improve hydrologic functioning and we examined projected trends in flow regimes over the 21st century. We found that, despite a projected increase in total annual flows, there…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Understanding household experiences with flooding in post-fire environments: risk perceptions, perceived drivers, and mitigation actions
Year: 2025
Flood events in post-fire environments produce cascading social and ecological consequences that are challenging to anticipate, mitigate, and manage. Engaging private property owners in mitigation is complex, and the drivers that motivate action or inaction are not yet well defined. We analyse household survey data collected after multiple rainfall events that triggered flooding on and adjacent to the 2019 Museum Fire burn scar in Flagstaff, AZ, USA, to explore relationships between risk perceptions, drivers of flood risk, and mitigation actions in post-fire environments. We received 623…
Publication Type: Journal Article