Date of Award
2025
Document Type
Open Access Master's Report
Degree Name
Master of Science in Sustainable Communities (MS)
Administrative Home Department
Department of Social Sciences
Advisor 1
Kari Henquinet
Advisor 2
Chelsea Schelly
Committee Member 1
Richelle Winkler
Abstract
Communities across the US are facing increased wildfire risks due in part to historic fire suppression efforts, a warming climate, and an influx of people residing in wildland urban interface (WUI) landscapes. Because of these increasing risks, there have been growing concerns about the social factors that can increase individual and community vulnerability to wildfires. This research adds to the discussion of social vulnerability by examining how people living in a geographic area with heightened wildfire risk think about the ways in which people can be more or less vulnerable to wildfires. Using semi-structured interviews, round table discussions, and field notes, our research team found that various social dimensions contribute to vulnerability, including: living stress (how much time, money, and support a person might have in meeting daily needs), housing type, physical residential location and related infrastructure, age, community-level planning and resources, social norms, insurance, and ways in which wildfires threaten people’s ability to meet livelihoods.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Recommended Citation
Brodowski, Ella, "INVESTIGATING DIMENSIONS OF SOCIAL VULNERABILITY TO WILDFIRE: A CASE STUDY OF WESTERN MONTANA", Open Access Master's Report, Michigan Technological University, 2025.
Included in
Demography, Population, and Ecology Commons, Inequality and Stratification Commons, Other Forestry and Forest Sciences Commons, Place and Environment Commons