Rangeland Fire Protection Associations in Great Basin Rangelands: A Model for Adaptive Community Relationships with Wildfire?

Widespread concern with the negative impacts of wildfire on human communities has spurred calls to foster more resilient and adaptable forms of community coexistence with fire. However, numerous institutional barriers work to perpetuate maladaptive individual and collective behaviors in many communities. Here we examine a unique institutional model in the remote U.S. West in which rural community members play active roles in responding to wildland fire under state-sanctioned Rangeland Fire Protection Associations. Our findings drawn from case studies of four associations in Idaho and Oregon suggest that the Rangeland Fire Protection Association model presents opportunities to leverage the motivations, skills, and knowledge of ranchers to inform effective fire response and create opportunities for learning and adaptation. At the same time, this model of coproduction presents challenges to the integration of formal and informal institutions.