Spatial Assessment of Wildland Urban Interface Change and Wildfires in Northern California Over the Past Thirty Years

Keywords: wildland urban interface, WUI, wildland fire, wildfire
Session Type: Virtual Poster Abstract
Day: Monday
Session Start / End Time: 2/28/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/28/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 49

Abstract

In the United States, fire was suppressed for many decades and all but eliminated from the natural landscape. This exclusion of fire has led to an un-natural and unhealthy accumulation of hazardous fuels which are fueling large, catastrophic wildfires that are destroying communities and wildland habitat as well. California is a prime example of how humans' interaction with and invasion of once wild land, has led to devastating consequences for both humans and nature. During the 20th century, California's population grew by more than 32 million. As population grows, the demand for affordable housing increases as well. This demand has led to encroachment by humans into once native, wild lands and transformation of that land into a transition zone referred to as the Wildland Urban Interface (WUI). Over the past 30 years, the number of WUI acres has increased dramatically over the entire United States. As the amount of WUI has increased, so has the number and intensity of wildfires. Almost 90% of all wildland fire ignitions and 50% of all acres burned are human-caused.

This poster represents the preliminary research to determine the spatial relationship between the change in wildland urban interface and the number of wildfires. Eventually, this research includes the relationship between fire starts, the source of these starts, and land cover within the wildland urban interface, as well as the relationship between fire starts in the wildland urban interface and the size of wildfires at the time of complete containment.