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Burning Budgets: Does An Institutional Blank-Check Raise The Severity And Cost Of Fighting Wildland Fires?, Devin T. Stein

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

In conducting this research, I wanted to explore whether political incentives have a significant effect on wildfire management in the United States. I attempt to answer this question by proving a theoretical justification for why wildfires may become more expensive to fight and severe to manage because of political institutions. I then attempt to provide some hard evidence to support this theory by using regression analysis. My analysis suggests that political factors do matter for wildfire suppression funding, although I was unable to find strong enough evidence to suggest that these political factors are actually driving more severe wildfires.

This …