Wildfire Policy, Climate Change, and the Law

This essay will first briefly review the evolution of federal wildfire law and policy. It will then examine the relationship between climate change and wildfire, including potential legal and policy implications. Next, it will identify and explore how adaptation and mitigation strategies might be employed to address the growing climate-related wildfire risk. This entails reviewing the wildland-urban interface problem and risk reduction policies designed to protect human lives and property. It also entails examining the impact climate change and enhanced fire regimes will have on natural resource management policy and strategy. The essay concludes with brief observations on how law and policy might better address and accommodate the fire-related challenges that loom as the climate continues to warm.