A primary aim of U.S. fire management is to foster communities who can adapt to wildfire as a reoccurring process on the landscapes in which they live. Such fire adapted communities should ideally have the ability to effectively prepare for, respond to and recover from wildfires by mitigating the threat to property, land value and life, allowing fire to play its natural role in the environment and reducing the need for suppression resources over time. Adaptation involves an ongoing and evolving appraisal of a community and its impact on the ecosystem and how this can affect response to wildfire, like reviewing development patterns, management practices and coordination of suppression activities. All can affect how wildfire behaves across a given landscape.

In an effort to better understand how the interplay between various landowners, officials and land managers affect a community’s ability to adapt to wildfire, researchers at the University of Idaho conducted focus groups with a variety of professionals, residents and government officials in Bonner County, Idaho, and Pend Oreille County, Washington (Figure 1). Researchers contacted selected community members and land managers with comprehensive knowledge of their county and engaged in semi-structured discussions around voluntary fuel reduction, zoning efforts, public lands management and recovery after wildfire events.