| Wildfires in the US present a unique problem for land managerswho must consider simultaneously the ecological health of public lands along with the community’s needs, desires, and perceptions, when making land management decisions. The public, however, typically expresses unqualified or contradicting opinions and desires when it comes to land management policy. This undoubtedly makes the job of the land manager that much more complicated as they seek to develop and implement land management strategies in a variety of emergency management contexts. To help illuminate some of the areas of ambiguity in the public’s opinion of land management strategies, asurvey was administered in October 2017 to Idaho State University students looking at the influences of knowledge, trust, and behavior on their support or oppositionof suggested policies. In addition, as part of the survey, I looked at the influences of knowledge, trust, and behavior on the public’s perceptions of the ecological impact of highlighted strategies. The results of both were mixed but provided valuable insights and suggestions for land managers,as well as the public,to consider improvingcertain aspects of natural resource management. Finally, twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with federal, state, and local land managers of the western US in order to gain more awarenessinto what external and internal factors influence their decision making in a post-fire context. The results of this chapter potentially provide valuable information to land managers seeking to improve decision making.
viiiKey Words:Public Opinion, Wildfires, Risk, Land Management, Diffusion, Innovation |