Fuels Planning: Science Synthesis and

Integration

Social Issues Fact Sheet: 2

Developing Personal Responsibility for

Fuels Reduction: Types of Information to

Encourage Proactive Behavior

United States

Department

of Agriculture

Forest Service

Rocky Mountain

Research Station

Research Note

RMRS-RN-21-2-WWW

September 2004

Why Proactive?

Your fuels management responsibilities may include providing local

property owners with the information for taking responsibility for reducing fuels on their land. Research

and experience tell us that property

owners are interested in being involved in wildfire hazard mitigation

activities. Research also shows us

the expected: residents have greater

knowledge of fire and fuel management strategies in places where

education programs have been in

operation. For some people, this new knowledge is enough to trigger a new behavior. In this fact sheet we discuss the different kinds of information that you

can provide property owners, information that may enhance proactive behavior

to reduce fuels.

Types of Information

The following three types of information may be useful in programs to engage

property owners in fuel reduction activities:

1. Procedural Information

Most of the information we provide property owners is ìhow-toî advice for

reducing fuel loads. This ìhow-toî information is referred to as procedural

information. Sometimes procedural information is simplified as ì50 simple

things you can do to make your home safe from wildfire,î or other such lists.

While this type of information is necessary to help people know what to do

and how to do it, it is usually not sufficient on its own.

2. Explanatory Information

For procedural information to be effective, it may need to be accompanied

by explanations that justify the action. People often need reasons to justify

recommended actions. In the absence of information, they may come up

with their own reasons. For example, residents of one community were interviewed about why they did not create defensible space around their homes.

One explanation they offered was that they had seen a fire jump a six-lane

highway, so they figured why make the effort when no amount of defensible

space could stop such a fire. Knowledge that the purpose of defensible space

Social Science Team Co-Leads:

Pam Jakes

Sue Barro

USDA Forest Service

North Central Research Station

1992 Folwell Avenue

St. Paul, MN 55108

Fuels planning: Science synthesis and

integration, an interagency research/

management partnership to support

the Ten-Year Fire Plan, led by Russell

T. Graham, RMRS, and Sarah M.

McCaffrey, NCRS.

Synthesizing

Scientific Information

for Fire and Fuels

Project Managers

Pacific Northwest

Research Station

The information for this

fact sheet was provided

by Dr. Martha Monroe

and Ms. Lisa Pennisi,

University of Florida.

Field trip to the Squires Peak Fire, Applegate, OR. Field

trips are an excellent way to provide information and

vividly show the impacts of fuels management (photo

credit: V. Sturtevant).
The Fuels Planning fact sheets are based on preliminary findings. Information from fact sheets will be synthesized in an upcoming publication.

is often not to stop a fire, but to reduce the severity

of the fire around their homes, is information that

could have helped these community members. Explanatory information is especially important when

the recommended actions are complicated, seemingly counterintuitive, or when the justification is

not common knowledge. The level of detail you

provide should also be guided by the level of interest of your audience. Lengthy, detailed explanations

will only work when the audience is already interested in the topic and is willing to put forth the effort to learn.

3. Impact Information

Property owners involved in fuels management have

mentioned the importance of knowing if their actions are sufficient. This type of information is often called impact information. Impact information

provides property owners with feedback on whether

or not the action taken was done correctly, and the

extent to which the action was (or will be) effective

in reducing the severity of wildfire. Understandably,

you and your colleagues may be hesitant to promise

results (for example, ìIf you clear 50 feet of defensible space, your home wonít burnî). However, you

can encourage property owners to engage in proper

fuels management while reinforcing messages regarding the unpredictability of wildfire. In addition, more

feedback about the positive outcomes of actions

similar to the ones they are being encouraged to undertake, such as better media coverage of structures

saved by defensible space, will help property owners see that these actions can be worth doing.

More Information Is Not a Panacea

For some people, new information is not enough to

trigger new behavior. In a future fact sheet, we discuss

the importance of social acceptability and community

norms in getting people interested in proactive behavior for reducing fuels.

Other fact sheets in this series will be available in the

forthcoming months.

Social Science Team Fact Sheets

Look for fact sheet topics from the Social Science Team including

information on developing personal responsibility for fuels reduction, communicating fire hazard, topics for community fire plans,

guidelines for community education, and the ìgolden ruleî for communicating fire hazard to people.

Fuels Planning: Synthesis and Integration

This fact sheet is one in a series being produced as part of a larger

project supported by the USDA Forest Service to synthesize new

knowledge and information relevant to fire and fuels management.

Fact sheets address topics related to stand structure, environmental

impacts, economics, and human responses to these factors. Information in the fact sheets is targeted for the dry forests of the Inland

West, but is often applicable across broad regions of the country.

For more information, please visit our Web site at:

www.fs.fed.us/fire/tech_transfer/synthesis/synthesis_index