Planning: FIRE-PLAN: Stakeholder-driven Challenges and Opportunities for Wildfire Mitigation and Preparedness

野地火灾事件对农村地区的社区和生态系统有特别重大的影响。这些地区的许多居民缺乏财政资源来应对和减轻野地火灾事件的影响。这一背景在美国南部大部分地区尤其如此，那里的社会和文化背景对救灾和减灾提出了独特的挑战。该项目制定了调查美国南部日益增长的荒地-城市界面(WUI)中野地火灾的影响的计划，并有助于了解这一关键区域的独特动态。本研究为推进荒地火灾事件作为增强社区复原力机制的论述提供了科学和实践的见解。该项目使用利益相关者驱动的方法来整理数据和资源，作为继续对围绕野火危险和人类住区的日益突出但仍未被充分了解的问题进行科学调查的基础。该项目包括召集和主持一系列研究人员、从业者和其他利益相关者之间的对话，以讨论野地火灾风险，并探索成功减轻、管理和应对美国南部野地火灾危险的关键问题。研究小组收集该地区当前野火计划、法规以及行政和通信结构的信息，以更好地了解与野火风险相关的治理，并调查野火对建筑环境、响应系统、以及响应者和当地社区的健康。研究目标是：(1)通过从业者和学术讨论，确定南部荒地火灾缓解的关键挑战；(2)评估美国南部荒地火灾风险管理在计划和法规中的整合情况；(3)通过准备和应对规划以及协调公共和私营利益攸关方，了解社区的复原力，以提高野火发生前、期间和之后的医疗保健服务。对美国南部的地理关注反映了研究团队更广泛的意图，即随着气候变化放大风险和不确定性，增强研究不足和潜在准备不足地区的与野火相关的知识和能力。这一奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Wildland fire events have particularly significant impacts on communities and ecosystems in rural areas. Many residents in these areas lack the financial resources to cope with and mitigate the impacts of wildland fire events. This context is particularly the case in much of the Southern United States where social and cultural contexts present unique challenges for disaster response and mitigation. This project develops plans to investigate the impacts of wildland fire in the growing wildland-urban interface (WUI) in the Southern United States and contributes to the understanding of the unique dynamics in this critical zone. This research provides both scientific and practical insight to advance the discourse on wildland fire events as a mechanism to enhance community resilience. The project uses a stakeholder driven approach to collate data and resources as a foundation for continued scientific investigation of increasingly prominent yet still insufficiently understood issues surrounding wildfire hazards and human settlement.This project involves convening and moderating conversations among a range of researchers, practitioners, and other stakeholders to discuss wildland fire risk and explore key issues for successfully mitigating, managing, and living with wildland fire hazards in the Southern U.S. The research team gathers information on current wildfire plans, regulations, and administrative and communications structures in the region to better understand governance as related to wildland fire risk and investigate potential risks of wildfire to the built environment, response systems, and the health of responders and local communities. The research objectives are to: (1) identify key challenges to wildland fire mitigation in the South through practitioner and academic discussions; (2) assess the integration of wildland fire risk management in plans and regulations in the Southern United States; and (3) understand community resilience through preparedness and response planning and coordination of public-private stakeholders to enhance healthcare access before, during and after a wildfire. The geographic focus on the U.S. South reflects the researcher team’s broader intent to augment wildfire-related knowledge and capabilities of understudied and potentially underprepared regions as climate change amplifies risk and uncertainty.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.