Fire social science research from the Pacific Southwest research station: studies supported by national fire plan funds

Abstract

Fire events often have a large impact on recreation and tourism, yet these issues had not been addressed from a social science perspective. To address his, the Wildland Recreation and Urban Cultures Research Work Unit (RWU) of the Pacific Southwest Research Station acquired funding through the National Fire Plan within the community assistance topic area. The three RWU scientists have developed some distinct lines of research to address the research objectives identified when acquiring the funding: examine values/attitudes and behaviors of recreation residence owners and year-round residents in the wildland-urban interface, examine recreationists’ perceptions about fire suppression and postfire forest health issues, and examine perceptions and beliefs about recreation activities and impacts to fire-prone ecosystems in the wildland-urban interface. We report 17 of these studies grouped into four major topical headings: recreation use research, communication research, program evaluation and interface residents research, and trust research.