The lost summer : community experiences of large wildfires in Trinity County, California

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Date

2011

Authors

Davis, Emily Jane
Moseley, Cassandra
Jakes, Pamela J.
Nielsen-Pincus, Max

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Ecosystem Workforce Program, Institute for a Sustainable Environment, University of Oregon

Abstract

As wildfires are increasing in scale and duration, and communities are increasingly located where these wildfires are occurring, we need a clearer understanding of how large wildfires affect economic and social well being. These wildfires can have complex impacts on rural public lands communities. They can threaten homes, public health, and livelihoods. Wildfires can burn timber, make recreation and tourism unappealing, and affect agricultural production. Yet suppression of large wildfires involves significant government spending and mobilization of considerable human resources. While wildfires themselves may displace normal economic activity during the fire, the process of suppression can create other types of economic activities. However, community social impacts are also intertwined with economic impacts in significant ways.

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16 pages

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