Making sense of wildfire prevention in the southwestern United States: Workforce perspectives on organizational challenges in federal land management agencies

Abstract Wildfire prevention yields a high return on investment, yet research suggests that efforts to modernize prevention resources, programs, and funding within U.S. federal land management agencies are scarce despite rising ignition risk. Investigating the experiences and needs of fire prevention staff tasked with undertaking risk reduction while interacting with a rapidly diversifying portfolio of public land users, including current challenges and opportunities that would benefit from additional support, is critical for advancing holistic wildfire adaptation on public lands. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 31 federal agency employees for whom fire prevention was a primary job responsibility in the U.S. states of Arizona and New Mexico to document the current state of fire prevention in federal land management agencies. Interviews uncovered three core challenges: a lack of clarity about what prevention entails and its role within federal agencies, inability to demonstrate prevention “success,” and a lack of capacity for innovation. Promotion opportunities under these constraints were limited, resulting in a wildfire prevention ‘brain drain’ to other agencies or regions of the U.S. that retention of local knowledge not yet captured by data or decision support tools. These systemic and localized barriers motivated interest in a more defined balance between position responsibilities and role flexibility. We use organizational sensemaking and sensegiving as a theoretical lens to provide actionable insights for agency decision makers, emphasizing a need for strategic resource coordination and greater clarity surrounding what prevention entails to demonstrate programmatic value and encourage collective action.