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 Subject "Wildfires -- Prevention and control -- Planning"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Community Wildfire Protection Plan Evaluation Guide
    (University of Oregon, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, 2008-08)
    The purpose of this guide is to assist communities in monitoring and evaluating their Community Wildfire Protection Plans to strengthen future implementation. The steps in this guide outline an effective process for evaluating how well communities have addressed the goals and objectives of their CWPPs and for updating their plans. The Guide recommends collaborative strategies to bring together project partners to conduct the evaluation, gather relevant data, and write the evaluation report. This evaluation will draw out the experiences and lessons learned in collaborative efforts among community members, local government, municipalities, land management, and state agencies, thereby pinpointing the key accomplishments and challenges facing the community in implementing its fire plan. The benefits of an evaluation may also include the identification of strategies to help communities plan for and reduce the risks of other natural disasters.
  • 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
    Evaluation Guide for Community Wildfire Protection Plans : Draft
    (University of Oregon, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, 2008-03-01) University of Oregon. Institute for a Sustainable Environment. Resource Innovations
    The purpose of this guide is to assist communities in monitoring and evaluating their CWPPs to strengthen future implementation. The steps in this guide outline an effective process for evaluating how well communities have addressed the goals and objectives of their CWPPs and updating their plans. The Guide recommends collaborative strategies to bring together project partners to conduct the evaluation, gather relevant data, and write the evaluation report. This evaluation will draw out the experiences and lessons learned in collaborative efforts among community members, local government, municipalities, land management, and state agencies, thereby pinpointing the key accomplishments and challenges facing the community in implementing their fire plan. Benefits of an evaluation may also include identifying strategies that help communities to plan for and reduce the risks of other natural disasters.