Participatory place mapping in fire planning

Place situates social phenomena in geographical space, and thus the concept of place demands careful consideration of the role of scale and how different scales interact. This chapter discusses a study that used participatory mapping methods to examine the relationship between place meanings and proposed management actions. The results showed that while participating landowners readily described and mapped special places, site-specific special places did not influence views on fire and fuels management. Instead landowner preferences for fire and fuels management were situated almost entirely at larger scales and explained by broader worldviews and ideologies about proper stewardship and the appropriate human-nature relationship. Getting scale “right” is critically important for public lands managers engaged in project planning at multiple scales.