Influence of wildfire experiences on risk perceptions and responses among family forest owners in Oregon, USA

Keywords: Wildfire, risk perception, forests,
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 45

Abstract

Wildfires are a known risk in some parts of the country, but under changing climate conditions there is the potential for fire risks to increase even in these areas. One challenge of studying risk perceptions is separating risk perceptions of the event from experiences of the event in cross-sectional study designs. To overcome this challenge, we use a panel study design by re-surveying family forest owners in wildfire prone, Ponderosa Pine forest regions of Oregon, USA. We examine how three measures of perceived wildfire risk in the past, relate to present levels of perceived risk of wildfires and performance of fuel reduction activities in the intervening years, while controlling for wildfire experiences.