Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Management Strategies In The Wildland-Urban Interface Of Southern California And Their Effect On Fire Behavior And Environmental Impacts, Christopher Dicus

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

This paper discusses varying management strategies in wildland-urban interface communities of southern California in terms of their effects on potential fire behavior and residual environmental impacts. A century of fire exclusion policies there and throughout the United States has led to immense fuel loading and declining ecosystem health, which coupled with a burgeoning population relocating to wildland areas, has annually heightened the threat of devastating wildfires. Successful management strategies must consider elements of suppression needs, community education, construction and development standards, and vegetation manipulation, each of which will vary dependant on the ecosystem and socioeconomic conditions of the area considered. …