2018-19 Rapid Assessment of Vegetation Management Results

In Hawaii, wildfire has devastating impacts on our communities and native ecosystems. With land use and climate changes, wildfire is a significant and growing hazard in many places across Hawaii. 

Research in wildfire science shows that vegetation is a key ingredient in the recipe for recurring wildfire. Vegetation management is essential for wildfire hazard mitigation strategies that:

• reduce wildfire hazard;

• create safer conditions for firefighters; and

• serve as key climate adaptation strategies for our communities, economies and environment.  

Fire follows fuel and the impacts do not abide by property boundaries. Therefore, reducing wildfire hazard is a landscape-level issue that we need to collaboratively tackle together to create safer and more wildfire resilient communities.

In 2015, HWMO’s Technical Advisory Committee, comprised of more than 35 fire and natural resource experts from across the state, discussed Hawaii’s lack of consolidated landscape-level information on vegetative fire fuels treatments. 

To start to fill the gap, HWMO conducted a Rapid Mapping Assessment and facilitated Collaborative Action Planning on Vegetation Management in 2018-19 to:

• Better understand all of the important hazard reduction already happening by diverse land managers;

• Identify and prioritize actions that address the island-wide fire issue to optimize expenditures and efforts and maximize protection at the landscape-scale;

• To kick-start collaboration, information sharing, and integrate fire-thinking into current activities to address the cross-boundary fire risk.

We thank State Division of Forestry and Wildlife, University of Hawaiʻi CTAHR Cooperative Extension, and Pacific Fire Exchange for their collaborative support on this project. Funding was provided by Hawaiʻi State Grant-in-Aid Program, 2016, and the U.S. Forest Service, Pacific Southwest Region, under the terms of Grant No. 16-11052012-146 and No. 17-DG-11052012-143. USDA is an equal opportunity provider and employer.

We also thank the many mapping participants, workshop attendees, and survey respondents who made this all possible!

The summary results of the Rapid Mapping Assessment and Collaborative Action Planning can be found below.

Hawaiʻi Statewide Summary

Hawaiʻi Island

Lānaʻi

Maui

Molokaʻi

Oʻahu

Kauaʻi

"Four Friends of Fire" Video

A short PSA with animated characters to educate people about the four key elements that dictate fire behavior universally.

If we're going to live with fire, we'd better get to know it. In this first installment of the series, we meet four key drivers of bushfire risk. With thanks to the University of Wollongong, the University of Melbourne, Rockshelf Productions and David Shooter.

Building a Wildfire Resistant Home: Codes and Costs

“A new home built to wildfire-resistant codes can be constructed for roughly the same cost as a typical home.” -Headwaters Economics

This paper by headwaters Economics illustrates the ways that constructing a wildfire resistant home can actually be comparable to the cost of constructing a home that is not wildfire resistant. If you are looking at building a home, or remodeling your current building, consider reading through this guide to learn how to reduce your risk of wildfire devastation.

From the source:

“This study finds negligible cost differences between a typical home and a home constructed using wildfire-resistant materials and design features.”