Derric Jacobs

Dr. Derric Jacobs, Postdoctoral Research Associate

Department of Environmental Science & Management, Portland State University

“Network governance in managing wildfire risks”

In 2017, one of the worst wildfires in U.S. history ripped through northern California destroying more than 200,000 acres and thousands of homes and business, and taking more than 32 lives with hundreds still missing. Wildfires are a natural and integral ecological process yet with human expansion and development, wildfire and people collide into a complex socio-ecological system and what is termed a wicked problem.

Community resilience to wildfires is often based on complex interactions between social, political and economic processes of governance. In order to address wildfire risk and develop resiliency we research this governance issue through the lens of network theory and science known as network governance. Network governance considers the complex social interactions between diverse stakeholders and actors operating in a governance realm and stands in contrast to a traditional bureaucratic and market based perspectives. Network governance includes various public and private institutions that coordinate or could coordinate with each other to develop policy and actions around various complex problems.

In order to better understand how various stakeholders work in the wildfire governance realm we use questionnaires and interviews to collect data on the stakeholders and their networks. We analyze the data through a methodical approach known as social network analysis and network analysis in a more general form. The hypothesis is that complex social structures among stakeholders present opportunities and challenges to the governance of wildfires.