My Place or Yours? Using Spatial Frames to Understand the Role of Place in Forest Management Conflicts

Abstract

Vegetation treatment projects in wildland urban interface (WUI) areas are highly visible to public scrutiny, which can lead to stakeholder conflicts (e.g. land managers, public) that block a treatment’s implementation, and possibly expose residents to wildfire risk. This study proposes that research on environmental conflicts should account for physical spaces. We develop a conceptualization of spatial frames by combining theorizing on conflict frames and place attachment. The empirical case tracks the re-implementation of Forsythe, a US Forest Service vegetation treatment project in Colorado. Data include public meeting observation (N = 11), and interviews and focus groups with N = 31 residents. The findings about spatial frames illustrate that physical landscapes inscribe retrospective memories of past activities, and prospective aspirations for future actions. The temporal orientation of spatial frames (i.e., retrospective, prospective) configures frame repertoires in particular ways to heighten intractability. Land manager recommendations provide forward-looking opportunities for stakeholder engagement.

Keywords:

• Communication
• conflict frames
• environmental conflict
• framing
• place attachment
• sensemaking
• spatial frames
• wildfire
• wildland-urban interface

Additional information

Funding

The United States Department of the Interior, Joint Fire Science Program [project: 16-3-01-37] partially funded this work.