The Tension Between Transparency and Public Appeasement in the Formulation of Wildfire Management Strategies and the Use of Wildfire as a Restoration Tool

Abstract

In this essay I explore how the Healthy Forests Restoration Act 2003 ("HFRA") and development of a National Cohesive Wildland Fire Management Strategy pursuant to the Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act 2009 ("FLAME") purchased peace with WUI landowners. These laws emphasized "fire-adapted communities" and potentially signaled acceptance of (or normalizing) development in areas of high fire danger. By emphasizing risk reduction narrowly, we may have missed an opportunity to advance broader restoration objectives connected to bringing fire back to fire-adapted landscapes.