Burning from the ground up: The structure and function of Prescribed Burn Associations in the United States

To combat losses and threats from fire exclusion and extreme wildfire events, communities in the United States are increasingly self-organizing through locally led Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) to plan and implement prescribed burns on private lands. Our study aimed to document the expansion of PBAs and provide insight into their structure, function, and impacts. Leaders from 135 known PBAs across the United States were invited to participate in an online survey. Survey results demonstrate a widespread emergence of PBAs in the United States, successfully mobilizing thousands of volunteers to collectively burn more than 34,000 ha annually. PBAs demonstrated that they are reducing myriad barriers to prescribed burning while meeting their goals to broaden access to the use of fire using a neighbors-helping-neighbors model to provide training, pool resources, and reduce the costs of prescribed burning. By including volunteers with diverse levels of experience and backgrounds, PBAs are changing the narrative of who has access to the use of fire. The adaptability of the PBA model to local contexts provides an alternative model of community-led, non-agency- based fire management critical to advancing the pace and scale of restoration needed in fire- adapted ecosystems.

Methods
A national online survey of PBA leaders across 135 known PBAs in the US was distributed via email in the fall of 2023. The survey questions were designed to gather information on PBA formation, coverage area, annual burn accomplishments, membership, organizational structure, funding, training, and more. In addition to questions that utilized a likert scale, the survey included open-ended questions where respondents could provide more in-depth insights. A pilot survey was sent to twenty-nine PBA and survey experts for content validity and to gather feedback to ensure the questions were clear and well-organized. Ten responses with feedback were received and edits to the final survey were made accordingly. 

The email distribution list was created from the information found within the data fields of a national online map, which is updated regularly based on submissions from PBA leaders, as well as contacts provided on PBA websites, state PBA organizations, and personal connections with the authors. The survey targeted PBA leaders, with only one response requested per individual PBA. The survey followed the basic tenets of Dillman’s Tailored Design Method and was designed to be distributed, completed, and returned electronically. Members were given five weeks to complete the survey, with two additional reminder emails sent in the interim. The survey closed in early November 2023. The authors also hosted an informational webinar/meeting to provide details on survey intent and timeline. For PBAs in which duplicate responses were recorded, only the most thorough response was kept. In total, 75 PBA leaders responded to the survey, representing a response rate of 56%. 

Data processing and analyses were completed using R v4.3.1 in RStudio v2023.6.1.524 with the Tidyverse, FSA, and ggstatsplot packages.