Unequal Treatments: Federal Wildfire Fuels Projects and Socioeconomic Status of Nearby Communities

Abstract

With wildfires becoming more severe and more damaging in the western United States, fuels management projects intended to reduce the severity of wildfire are becoming an increasingly important management tool. Yet the statutory requirements for federal agencies to incorporate public input in their siting decisions combined with the greater political efficacy of wealthier, more educated communities have the potential to lead to inequities in their distribution. In this paper, we show that the likelihood that a community receives a nearby fuels management project is greater for wealthier, whiter, and more educated communities, even after controlling for differences in risk from wildfire. We further investigate the Collaborative Forest Landscape Restoration Program (CFLRP), a cost-share program operated by the US Forest Service. Communities near CFLRP projects tend to have higher socioeconomic status. However, participation in cost-share programs does not appear to depend critically on wealth because we find no difference in the wealth of communities near CFLRP projects compared with all US Forest Service fuels projects, including those with no matching requirements. Rather, the racial makeup and educational attainment of communities are more strongly associated with nearby cost-share projects.