Community Capacity and the Environment Publications

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1794/13133

The Community Capacity and Environment program is primarily focused on building capacity in rural and underserved communities to address wildfire protection. The program intends to increase awareness about the relationships between wildfire and rural poverty and provide resources for community-based efforts in fire and forest restoration. This program also examines broader relationships between natural resource management, natural disaster mitigation and social vulnerability.

Browse

Browsing Community Capacity and the Environment Publications by Author "Gerlitz, Wendy"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Engaging Socially Vulnerable Populations in Community Wildfire Protection Plans
    (University of Oregon, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, 2008) Resource Innovations; Forest Guild; Watershed Research and Training Center; Ojerio, Ryan S., 1972-; Lynn, Kathy; Evans, Alexander M.; DeBonis, Mike; Gerlitz, Wendy
    Recent catastrophic wildfires in the United States provided images of the destruction of multimillion-dollar homes, dense urban neighborhoods, and vast estates that overlook beautiful forests or the southern California ocean. These images depict real pain and suffering for those who have lost their homes and possessions. What the images fail to show, however, are the small homes, rural communities, and working settlements that experience the same kind of pain and suffering. All communities risk tremendous losses in the face of wildfires, but some communities risk losing more of their assets when their homes or their properties burn. Many rural and under-served communities have no insurance to rebuild their homes; renters are displaced and have no means to recover their valuables; and elderly and disabled residents confront additional threats when responding to events and caring for themselves and their families. Catastrophic wildfire can result in the loss of livelihood for residents and communities as a whole, including loss of jobs, natural resource and tourism industries, and other economic opportunities in the community. The purpose of this document is to provide tools to low-income and under-served communities for protection from wildfire. • Ensure that low capacity communities are incorporated within Community Wildfire Protection Plan (CWPP) goals. • Conduct risk assessments that include social as well as biophysical dimensions of risk. • Identify vulnerable populations and develop strategies to meet their needs within a CWPP. • Monitor and evaluate the impact of CWPPs.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Mapping the relationship between wildfire and poverty
    (University of Oregon, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, 2005-11) Lynn, Kathy; Gerlitz, Wendy
    This research project uses the concept of community capacity -- a community's ability to protect itself, respond to, and recover from wildfire -- and examines socioeconomic indicators (one component of community capacity) as elements of wildfire risk. Utilizing socioeconomic information, as well as ecological factors, this study set out to investigate, through a geographical-information-systems approach, whether communities most at risk from wildfire are able to access and benefit from federal programs established to serve these communities. In other words, are the dollars, assistance, and fuels-reduction projects hitting the ground in the areas throughout the country that are most at risk? This research project found that federal agencies do not have the information and data necessary to answer this question. Spatial data to inform every aspect of this research -- including data regarding the ecological conditions of federal lands, wildfire protection capability in and around communities, and the federal expenditures under the national fire plan -- are unavailable and/or inadequate. Using the limited data that are currently available, this research focused primarily on the relationship between poverty and populated areas at risk to wildfire. Our research indicates that there is a relationship between poverty and federal land ownership, and that more poor households are located in close proximity to federal lands. Perhaps more significant, the research shows a higher percentage of poor households in inhabited wildland areas that are not considered part of the Wildland Urban Interface the areas that federal agencies and Congress have prioritized to receive the majority of funds for activities under the national fire plan. The research also indicates that, in the one state analyzed, poor households are more likely in areas with low or no fire response capabilities than are non poor households.