Exploring the Role of Local Businesses in Wildfire Prevention: Motivations, Approaches, and Partnerships in a Southwestern U.S. Recreation Economy

Abstract Wildfires can cause prolonged disruptions to public land access, affecting nearby local economies. As recreationists with varying levels of knowledge of wildfire increasingly visit fire-prone areas, reaching diverse audiences through non-traditional communication channels like local businesses offers novel opportunities for increasing engagement and outreach capacity. Business preparation for wildfire risk is central to developing fire adapted communities, yet little qualitative research has sought to capture their role in broader efforts to mitigate risks and impacts. We conducted semi-structured interviews with local business owners and employees, land managers, government representatives, and economically oriented local non-profits to explore how local businesses in Flagstaff, Arizona, USA, navigate wildfire impacts and to better characterize their role in human-caused wildfire prevention education. We found that local businesses experienced varying wildfire-related impacts defined by their relationships to, and dependence on, public lands for revenue, and were already informally acting as community stewards of fire prevention education but lacked the resources to develop cohesive and accurate messaging. We also offer recommendations for more intentional partnerships between businesses and agencies to leverage prevention education capacity and extend the scale and scope of outreach to public land users. Together, these findings can inform a more concerted approach to human-caused wildfire prevention that protects the interdependent relationship between public land management, wildfires, and local economy.