Understanding Wildfire Mitigation Behavior of Central Oregon Homeowners

Graduation date: 2015A history of fire suppression, growth in the wildland-urban interface, and changing climate conditions, have created a fire regime in central Oregon that is growing in severity and intensity, putting more people and structures at risk and requiring a greater percentage of state and federal agency budgets to manage fires. Realization of the importance of individual homeowners in reducing wildfire risks has led to a growing interest in understanding what mitigation activities homeowners are completing around their homes and properties, as well as which factors are influencing their decisions. This research uses data from the Public Attitudes toward Wildfire in Central Oregon (2011) to develop an OLS model of firewise behavior that seeks to explain the leading factors affecting firewise behavior in this central Oregon study group. It includes several variables created from a series of factor analyses that are assumed to measure concern about wildfire and opinions on public land and wildfire management. The results from the model suggest a number of policy recommendations for promoting firewise behavior. The intent of this essay is to describe current wildfire trends and management in the western US with an emphasis on wildfire mitigation by homeowners, and it concludes with an analysis of policy options for addressing this modern wildfire problem