Changing wildfire complexity highlights the need for institutional adaptation

As wildfires grow increasingly complex, institutional adaptation-
adjusting institutions to respond effectively to environmental changes- is
crucial for enhancing wildfire management capabilities. However,
institutional adaptation is a challenge as the connection between
environmental changes and human institutions remains poorly understood.
Here, by analyzing trends in five incident characteristics linked to
institutional complexity at national and regional levels from 1999 to 2020
in the USA, we show national trends of increasing institutional complexity
of wildfire indicators associated with wildfire governance, logistics,
management, resource scarcity, and network coordination. Substantial
regional variation was observed, with some cases exhibiting trends in
opposite directions. For example, while jurisdictional complexity
increased in the West, it decreased in the East. These results offer
insight into the linkage between environmental change and demands for
institutional adaptation, and provide an empirical basis for considering
potential tradeoffs of different institutional adaptations in light of
competing pressures.