The wildfire crisis in the United States is urgent, severe, and far reaching. Wildfire is no longer simply a land management problem, nor is it isolated to certain regions or geographies. Across this nation, increasingly destructive wildfires are posing ever-greater threats to human lives, livelihoods, and public safety.
In the face of this national challenge, Congress took bipartisan action to establish the Wildland
Fire Mitigation and Management Commission through the 2021 Infrastructure Investment
and Jobs Act (Pub. L. No. 117-58; § 40803, 135 Stat. 1097 (2021)). The legislation charged the 50-member Commission with the ambitious task of creating policy recommendations to address nearly every facet of the wildfire crisis, including mitigation, management, and post- fire rehabilitation and recovery. Recognizing the urgency of the crisis, the Commission was given just a single year to conduct a sweeping review of the wildfire system and produce a comprehensive set of policy priorities.
The suite of recommendations that follow outline a new approach to wildfire, one that is proactive in nature, better matched to the immense scale and scope of the crisis, and more reflective of the multi-scalar, interrelated nature of the overall system. Importantly, just as there is no single cause of this crisis, there is no single solution.
Attached document published September 2023
Trails as Resilient Infrastructure
posted Dec 19, 2023
This guidebook demonstrates how trails are part of resilient transportation infrastructure, how trails can be planned and designed to be resilient and sustainable, and how trails have a role in emergency planning and response.
Why Trails Matter: Resilience to Wildfire
posted Aug 9, 2023
Trails connect suburban and rural communities to wild places, and they can play an important role in landscape resilience, as wildfire becomes more frequent in the wildland-urban interface (WUI) where homes are increasingly being built.
Trails and Resilience: Review of the Role of Trails in Climate Resilience and Emergency Response
posted Apr 12, 2023
Trails are often overlooked as elements of essential infrastructure for a resilient transportation system.1 In emergencies where other transportation facilities are shut down or inaccessible, people may use trails to get where they need to go.
Launching a Successful Civilian Climate Corps
posted Sep 23, 2021
This paper outlines ways to achieve two key goals: First, to create career paths for young people; and secondly, to improve the U.S.’ ability to counter, and adapt to climate change, especially in communities that have suffered from environmental injustices.
575 views • posted 10/02/2023
