Examining the influence of outdoor recreation on anthropogenic wildfire regime of the southern Rocky Mountains

Wildfire is a prevalent issue in the southern Rocky Mountains. A large portion of land within the southern Rocky Mountains is federally owned public lands that are extremely prone to wildfire as a result of active wildfire suppression throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Public lands in the United States were originally created to properly manage natural resources, however, throughout the twentieth century outdoor recreation became increasingly prevalent, providing even greater human access to large volumes of forested public lands. This research analyzes the influence that outdoor recreation and human accessibility have on anthropogenic wildfire occurrence and size on public lands in the southern Rocky Mountains, using San Juan National Forest in southwestern Colorado as the study site. The statistical methodologies of case–control logistic regression analysis, multivariate regression analysis, and descriptive statistics are implemented. Geographic variables are also analyzed to gain a greater understanding of the anthropogenic wildfire regime in this region. Results demonstrate the importance of accessibility on anthropogenic wildfire occurrence and specific activities associated with outdoor recreation that play a major role in directing the pattern of anthropogenic wildfire. The results demonstrate that anthropogenic wildfires occur as a result of activities such as overnight camping in remote portions of the forest, day usage on vehicle trails, and where there are clusters of designated campsites. It is also demonstrated that anthropogenic wildfire pattern is influenced by the geography of the landscape.