The combination of frequent droughts, changing climate conditions, and longer fire seasons along with urban development expansion into wildland areas has resulted in more difficult conditions for managing wildfires. Wildfires are causing more frequent and wider-ranging societal impacts, especially as residential communities continue to expand into wildland areas. As of 2010, 44 million homes in the conterminous United States were located within the wildland-urban-interface, an area where urban development either intermingles with or is in the vicinity of large areas of dense wildland vegetation. These challenging conditions present a unique opportunity to adapt existing wildfire policy and management strategies to present and future wildfire scenarios.

This is the first presentation from the AGI Critical Issues webinar, "Adapting Wildfire Management to 21st Century Conditions". This webinar explores recent trends in wildfires and changes in contributing factors / drivers of these hazards and features case studies of wildfire policy and management strategies in the western and southern United States.

Our speakers include:
Tania Schoennagel, Ph.D., Research Scientist, University of Colorado-Boulder
David Godwin, Ph.D., Southern Fire Exchange / University of Florida
Vaughan Miller, Deputy Chief, Ventura County Fire Department

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