From Checkers to Chess: Using Social Science Lessons to Advance Wildfire Adaptation Processes

Abstract

This synthesis uses an overarching analogy to outline key wildfire social science lessons and present human adaptation to wildfire as an ongoing process of negotiated trade-offs dictated by the site-specific context of particular places. Use of an overarching analogy allows presentation of cross-cutting concepts or considerations for: (1) documenting local social diversity and determining how it might influence future efforts for wildfire adaptation; (2) understanding how landscape-scale patterns of social diversity or land management influence efforts to 'coexist' with wildfire; and (3) determining how alignments between local, regional, and federal influences necessitate diverse experimental adaptation approaches. The synthesis closes with specific recommendations for fostering wildfire adaptation coordinators and systematic processes that help facilitate diverse, tailored efforts from which generalizable best-practices could be derived. This article also outlines key considerations for research or monitoring of emergent organizations and efforts that bridge scales of collective action surrounding wildfire management.