The West in Flames: The Intergovernmental Politics of Wildfire Suppression and Prevention

Abstract

This research examines changes in the intergovernmental policy arrangements governing the control of wildfires in the western United States. For much of the twentieth century, the policymaking structure resembled Deil S. Wright's inclusive authority model whereby fire policy was dominated by the U.S. Forest Service with the states playing a supporting role. More recently, the states have become increasingly important in the decision-making process because of changes in residential patterns and land-use preferences that require greater intergovernmental coordination in presuppression and suppression activities within urban/wildland intermix areas, the rise in the number of large wildfires within nationalforests, and the willingness of Congress to approve institutional arrangements that give more weight to local community interests. Thus, the current approach increasingly resembles the overlapping authority model where multiple governmental jurisdictions share decision-making responsibility on wildfire control policies.