ABSTRACT
Why individuals choose to mitigate, downplay, or ignore risk has been a topic of much research over the past 25 years for natural-and humancreated risks, such as earthquakes, ooding, smoking, contraceptive use, and alcohol consumption. Wild re has been a relatively recent focus in the natural hazard literature, perhaps a result of several years of catastrophic res in the western United States. e desire of many to live in areas that provide wildland amenities has led to signi cant population migration into rural, forested areas of the West, exacerbating the risks of large-scale, catastrophic wild res. is migration has resulted in more people living in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), which has created many unique problems for homeowners as well as land managers. To mitigate or reduce the risks of wild res to communities and homeowners in the WUI requires action across the landscape, which includes treating both public and private lands. Signi cant research has demonstrated that on private property, a ho me’s exterior materials and its immediate surroundings principally determine the home’s ignition potential during extreme wild re events; additionally, the area that determines the home ignition zone during extreme wild res o ccurs la rgely o n p rivate la nds (C ohen 2004). Y et many homeowners do not undertake mitigating actions to protect their homes and potentially their lives from the risks of wild re.
