Effects of Fire Education Programs

Effects of fire education

Woodsy Owl

The purpose of fire education (Jakes and others 2002) is to:

• inform people about managerial policies and actions on public lands
• teach people about the role, behavior, and effects of fire in nature
• empower residents to reduce vegetation on their property
• decrease the frequency of unwanted fires
• minimize the risks of fire damage to people and property
• help communities recover quickly if a wildfire occurs
• repair misconceptions about fire

Managers can gain support for fire management plans by working to build the trust of local people by demonstrating that they are competent, that they care about local people, and that they are credible (Winter, Vogt, and McCaffrey 2004). The trust that homeowners have in natural resource agencies has more of an influence than environmental values (anthropocentric vs. biocentric) on whether or not people support fire management activities. Narrowing the knowledge gap between scientists, managers, and people tends to increase the trust that people have in fire management plans (Parkinson, Force, Smith 2003; Yankelovich 1991). There is a link between how much people know about the effects of fire and their support or opposition to fire use (Stenberg 1982): the more people know about fire, the more likely they are to support the use of prescribed burning. Fire education influences people’s perceptions of and behaviors related to prescribed and wildland fire by increasing their knowledge. Florida residents who receive education about prescribed fire are more tolerant of it than those who receive no education (Loomis, Bair, and Gonzalez-Caban 2001). In the case of wildfires, even though Florida residents have an equal knowledge level about wildfires now as in the past, they are less tolerant of wildfires than they previously were.

Conservation Education in Action

Educational information can change people’s knowledge and attitudes about fire, increase public awareness, and increase public support of fire (Cortner and others 1984; Loomis, Bair, and Gonzalez-Caban 2001; Nielsen 1981). Partly because of educational campaigns, the general public knows more about fire now than they did several decades ago (Cortner and others 1990). More educational efforts may need to be directed at policy makers since research shows that when policy makers are not well informed about prescribed fire, it can hinder fire management operations and thereby reduce the beneficial effects of prescribed fire for fuels reduction and ecosystem restoration (Rideout, Oswald, Legg 2003). The media also need to understand management issues and the role of fire because they often shape people’s perceptions (NWCG 2004).

Fire education often overlaps with social science research. Many educational campaigns begin with some basic social science research to find out what the audience knows and cares about. One way that education and research are combined is that teachers at a workshop or fire course will not only relay information about fire, but will also collect data about the knowledge, perceptions, and attitudes of people before and after they attend the workshop (e.g., Parkinson, Force, Smith 2003). Another way that education is combined with research is when some researchers poll a community of people about their knowledge and beliefs about fire, they may embed basic information about fire management, fire ecology, and fire effects in the surveys which has the effect of teaching respondents through the course of the survey (e.g., Vogt, Winter, Fried 2002). The major benefit of these projects is they can provide feedback to fire managers about the attitudes and behaviors of the public regarding fire. When managers better understand the needs and concerns of the public, they can design better plans for fire management and other programs.