Graduation Date
Spring 2025
Document Type
Thesis
Program
Master of Science degree with a major in Natural Resources, option Forestry, Watershed, & Wildland Sciences
Committee Chair Name
Erin Kelly
Committee Chair Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Second Committee Member Name
Jeffrey Kane
Second Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Third Committee Member Name
Jennifer Marlow
Third Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Fourth Committee Member Name
Laurie Richmond
Fourth Committee Member Affiliation
Cal Poly Humboldt Faculty or Staff
Keywords
Wildfire, Disaster recovery, Community resilience
Abstract
As wildfires grow in size, frequency, and severity, it is increasingly important to understand how communities recover from destructive fire. Working closely with partner organizations, I examined post-fire recovery in three communities impacted by the record-breaking 2020 fire season: Talent and Phoenix, Oregon; Happy Camp, California; and Ruth and Zenia, California. While each of these communities experienced severe losses as a result of fire, they embody a range of social and economic contexts. Evaluating recovery three to four years after fire, I explored how these distinctly different communities have defined and worked towards post-fire recovery. Through 76 interviews with fire survivors and key stakeholders, I examined what recovery has looked like in these communities, who has been working on it, what resources have been available, and how residents view recovery. I found that the case study communities faced similar challenges post-fire, stemming from gaps in recovery resources and barriers to accessing this limited support. However, in the three years post-fire, the communities have made progress towards recovery by drawing on their social networks and relationships. This took different forms in each case study location, from an emphasis on localized informal networks in one community to formal politically-connected networks in another. The results highlight the importance of community-based organizations for long-term disaster recovery and building social infrastructure for fostering climate resilience. My thesis shares findings from in-depth interviews, telling the story of wildfire recovery in each case study location and capturing lessons learned for other fire-impacted communities.
Recommended Citation
Barr, Catriona Grace, "From the ashes: lessons in community recovery from 2020 wildfires in Northern California and Southern Oregon" (2025). Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects. 2289.
https://digitalcommons.humboldt.edu/etd/2289