Mapping the Trajectories of Community Wildfire Exposure

• In Event: Mitigating Wildfire Risk in the Wildland Urban Interface

Abstract

Introduction/Background: Federal and state wildfire mitigation policies target vulnerable communities in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), the zone where human habitation abuts or intermingles with wildland vegetation. The identification of these areas, therefore, is key to directing resources to the communities that need the greatest amount of assistance in reducing wildfire risk to residents and infrastructure. A number of methods for mapping the WUI have been employed over the last few decades, each with a different set of limitations that may inhibit their ability to identify certain types of WUI communities.

Purpose/Research Question: This research focuses on locating communities that are not identified using conventional WUI mapping methods. Additionally, I construct WUI growth trajectories to identify rapidly growing communities that may require additional wildfire mitigation assistance.

Methods: I address these aims by developing a method to map the growth of WUI communities from 2000 through 2020 using gridded longitudinal data on structure density derived from property records. I then compare the spatial extents and populations of WUI communities identified using this novel method against those produced by prior methods. Additionally, I leverage the longitudinal nature of these maps to locate fast-growing WUI areas.

Results/Findings: I find that prior mapping methods omit a significant number of WUI areas, many of which face high wildfire risk due to biophysical factors.

Conclusion/Implications: The mapping methods implemented here enable a better understanding of the changing geographic of the WUI. In turn, this allows for better targeting of policy instruments designed to improve community wildfire resilience.

Author

• Reed Jonathan Humphrey, University of Washington
  Presenting Author