PURPOSE

Wildland fires in Colorado and the western US are increasingly affecting developed areas, resulting in loss of life and property, disrupting livelihoods and economies, and exacting large financial costs. As wildland fires in the region are projected to increase in the coming decades, there is a need and opportunity to generate science-based solutions to this complex problem.

CONTEXT

The Program for Managing Wildland-Urban Interface Fire Risk (“WUI Program”) has been established in the Department of Forest and Rangeland Stewardship, Warner College of Natural Resources at Colorado State University. The WUI Program leverages the Department’s expertise in multiple areas of wildland fire science (e.g., fire behaviour, fuels management, fire policy and economics, community-based collaborative planning) to address wildland-urban interface issues.

OUR INVOLVEMENT

CFRI  develops, synthesizes, and applies science-based solutions and products to address wildland-urban interface fire risks. The WUI Program promotes interdisciplinary approaches to generate knowledge and application, and collaboratively engages stakeholders and partners to learn, apply, and continuously adapt actions addressing WUI fire risk.

This program aims to create WUI communities that are:

• adapted to coexist with wildfire as a natural occurrence
• proactive in addressing their fire hazards and risks
• able to mitigate the effects of fire on their lives and livelihoods
• well-informed of current scientific understandings of wildfire direct risks, hazards, and management impacts