Survey data from: Defining "resilient landscapes" from multiple stakeholder perspectives in a wildland-urban interface (WUI) area

While previous research suggests general support for vegetation treatments on public land, land treatments in highly visible wildland-urban interface (WUI) areas are vulnerable to public scrutiny and opposition. Further, little research has examined public support/opposition to specific land treatment projects. This study examines public sentiment about a contested vegetation treatment—Forsythe II—in a WUI area of the Arapaho-Roosevelt National Forest (ARF) in Colorado. An initial phase of this project's research found vocal opposition to Forsythe II. The purpose of the present survey data collection was to understand how representative the resistance we observed regarding the Forsythe II treatments was in the ARF WUI community. A census survey (N=635) assessed level of support for the Forsythe II project along with demographics (age, gender, education, employment status, household income, home ownership versus renting), wildfire risk perceptions and perceived likely outcomes of a wildfire, land management activities (thinning, patchcuts, clearcuts, prescribed burns, natural wildfire), resident defensible space actions taken, trusted sources of information about fuel treatments, place attachment (symbolic bond to a landscape), and expectations about which agencies/organizations would respond to a wildfire near respondents' residence.
The main goal of the survey was to determine the extent of support or opposition among community members residing in the vicinity of a WUI vegetation treatment called Forsythe II.