The San Diego Natural History Museum and the San Diego Fire Recovery Network conducted three workshops on “Living with Fire in Chaparral Ecosystems:  Providing Tools for Decision Makers” in San Diego (June 7), San Bernardino (June 9), and Simi Valley (June 16).   Workshop participants were professionals who make decisions about and advise homeowners and landowners, and more than 160 shared their experiences on the role of professionals who make decisions about and advise homeowners and landowners, current information about wildfire risk reduction in chaparral-urban interface settings, and information still needed to reduce these risks.  Workshop format and analysis were designed by social scientist Jim Absher, Ph.D. The workshops were part of a larger project undertaken by the USDA Forest Service Pacific Southwest Research Station’s Riverside Fire Lab to improve the knowledge of fire ecology and urban/wildland interface dynamics in chaparral ecosystems in order to provide a stronger link between science and management decisions at all levels. 

Read about the workshop findings. (DOC 79k)