From 2000-2019, nearly 2,000 U.S. communities were threatened by wildfires or potential ember spread, showing the need for adaptive planning strategies.
Natural Hazards
Wildfire and Vulnerable Populations: Testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Natural Resources Committee
Testimony on wildfires and vulnerable populations to a forum before the House Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands.
Land use planning can reduce wildfire risk to homes and communities
Land use planning can help communities become fire-adapted and resilient in the face of increasing wildfire potential.
Federal wildfire policy and the legacy of suppression
Federal wildfire policy that emphasizes suppression—a legacy of early-1900s forest management—has resulted in a paradox: accumulated fuels and larger, more severe wildfires.
Preparing for wildfires during a pandemic
Managing wildfires during a pandemic will test the capacity of our first responders, but individual homeowners can take steps now to reduce wildfire risks.
Wildfire Risk to Communities: A tool to understand, explore, and reduce risk
The new Wildfire Risk to Communities website—developed by the USDA Forest Service in partnership with Headwaters Economics and Pyrologix—offers maps and data about community wildfire risk nationwide.
Using Economics to Support Climate Adaptation
Economic methods and data can engage diverse audiences and tell new stories to help cities make a case for climate adaptation.
Building for Wildfire Summit: Understanding How Homes Burn
Video and highlights from an event that brought together diverse community leaders to explore practices for building fire-adapted communities.
Wildfire Hazard Assessments Inform Land Use Planning
Wildfire hazard assessment maps can help communities build safer neighborhoods, prioritize mitigation resources, and adapt to wildfire.
Land Use Planning More Effective Than Logging to Reduce Wildfire Risk
Updated: For communities land use planning is more effective than logging on federal lands to reduce future wildfire disasters.
Communities utilize land use planning to reduce wildfire risks and costs
Community Planning Assistance for Wildfire (CPAW) is helping communities reduce wildfire risks and costs. Four new communities join 26 others this coming year.
Neighborhoods at Risk
Integrate socioeconomic and climate data to map neighborhoods at risk in selected cities.
Building a Wildfire-Resistant Home: Codes and Costs
A new home built to wildfire-resistant codes can be constructed for roughly the same cost as a typical home.
Open data for municipal planning (video)
Video: Prioritizing climate resilience using Headwaters Economics tools.
San Luis Valley Wildfire Risk
Explore interactive maps of watersheds, wildfire, and the wildland-urban interface in Colorado’s San Luis Valley.
Wildfire, Watersheds, and the Wildland-Urban Interface in the San Luis Valley
Partners in Colorado’s San Luis Valley are working to better understand the impacts of wildfire to communities, watersheds, and quality of life.
Austin Wildfire and Vulnerable Populations Tool
Identify neighborhoods where overlapping wildfire threats and socioeconomic vulnerabilities may make people disproportionately susceptible to wildfire.
New Montana Homes Increase Wildfire Risks
The number of western Montana homes in areas with high wildfire hazard has doubled, outpacing development rates in areas with low wildfire hazard.
Full Community Costs of Wildfire
Almost half of the full community costs of wildfire are paid for at the local level, including homeowners, businesses, and government agencies.
Communities Threatened by Wildfires, 2000-2017
Explore all communities threatened by wildfires from 2000 to 2017.