Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.**, summary: wildfire risk and impacts…

Awards issued prior to january 20, 2025, were funded under previous administrations and may not reflect the priorities and policies of the current administration.**, summary: wildfire risk and impacts in the pacific northwest continue to accelerate, affecting ecosystems that are not adapted to frequent or high?severity fire and generating far?reaching consequences for human health, built infrastructure, forest?based economies, ecosystem services, and overall ecological functioning. Despite substantial increases in funding, policy attention, and federal-state initiatives, the region remains far behind the pace and scale of adaptation required to reduce risk and strengthen resilience across working lands and communities. A central limitation is the lack of comprehensive, decision?ready information about the economy and geography of the workforce needed to carry out mitigation, restoration, and agricultural revitalization activities. This workforce spans public agencies, private firms, volunteers, students, and seasonal and temporary employees, but remains largely uncounted in existing labor statistics – limiting the ability of institutions, employers, and policymakers to plan strategically for long?term capacity. Similar challenges are emerging in hawai'i, where the expansion of invasive annual grasses and the decline of active agricultural management have increased wildfire hazards, reinforcing the need for integrated strategies that reduce fuels and restore productive agricultural lands to lower risk. Over the past four years, partners have worked intensively to collect data, gather stakeholder input, strengthen relationships, and develop new education and extension interventions, creating a strong foundation for the proposed research and capacity?building activities. This proposal builds on that groundwork – and extends its relevance to places like hawai'i facing grass?driven fire risk – to generate the knowledge and tools needed to close critical workforce gaps and support scaled-up wildfire risk reduction and agricultural productivity across regions of the united states.