Social assessment for the Wenatchee National Forest wildfires of 1994: targeted analysis for the Leavenworth, Entiat, and Chelan Ranger Districts.

A purposive social assessment across three communities explored reactions of local residents to wildfires in the Wenatchee National Forest in north-central Washington. Research concentrated on identifying the diversity of fundamental beliefs and values held by local residents about wildfire and forest management. Particular emphasis was given to investigating community social structures and potential conflict dynamics surrounding fire recovery efforts. Semistructured interviews were conducted with people representing a diverse set of values, attachments to the National Forest, and beliefs about forest management. Complexity of the social context emerged through induc-tive methods of qualitative analysis. Twenty-six social entities were categorized as political coalitions, stakeholder groups, residency tenure distinctions, geographic divisions , or ethnic communities. For each of the three communities, an indepth discussion described social dynamics surrounding fire recovery in the National Forest by juxtaposing the various value orientations and beliefs across 15 fire recovery issues. Conclusions targeted improving public involvement processes in the aftermath of severe ecological disturbances and traumatic human experiences. Abstract My natural science training has served me well in the Forest Service, but I am increasingly aware of the need to rely on social science training in all that we do as a public natural resource management agency. People and their values guide our decision-making processes. We are natural scientists first, yet we produce goods and services that are defined and measured by society's values. The Chelan County fires in 1994 were of devastating proportion. Large areas of the county were burned black and unrecognizable. People's homes and private property, as well as their favorite places in the Wenatchee National Forest, were lost. Our rehabilitation and recovery challenge was not only for the physical and biological resources but also for the recovery and well-being of our communities and the people. I understood , as I watched the last smoke die, that we could not move forward without a clear understanding of our communities and a concerted effort for public involvement in the decisionmaking process. Social assessments like this one may seem expensive and beyond our reach; however, assumptions about community expectations and needs that are based on personal observations and perceptions can be misguided. The truth is that our public is so diverse and multifaceted that we can no longer depend solely on this level of confidence. A social assessment can provide the context for a planning process that will lead to a better understanding of the compelling …