The Human Dimensions of Spatial, Pre-Wildfire Planning Decision Support Systems: A Review of Barriers, Facilitators, and Recommendations

Abstract

Decision support systems (DSSs) are increasingly common in forest and wildfire planning and management in the United States. Recent policy direction and frameworks call for collaborative assessment of wildfire risk to inform fuels treatment prioritization using the best available science. There are numerous DSSs applicable to forest and wildfire planning, which can support timely and relevant information for decision making, but the use and adoption of these systems is inconsistent. There is a need to elucidate the use of DSSs, specifically those that support pre-wildfire, spatial planning, such as wildfire risk assessment and forest fuels treatment prioritization. It is important to understand what DSSs are in use, barriers and facilitators to their use, and recommendations for improving their use. Semi-structured interviews with key informants were used to assess these questions. Respondents identified numerous barriers, as well as recommendations for improving DSS development and integration, specifically with respect to capacity, communication, implementation, question identification, testing, education and training, and policy, guidance, and authorities. These recommendations can inform DSS use for wildfire risk assessment and treatment prioritization to meet the goals of national policies and frameworks. Lastly, a framework for organizing spatial, pre-wildfire planning DSSs to support end-user understanding and use is provided.