This article lays out six propositions centering on a relationship between people-place connections and strategic behavior in natural resource politics. The first two propositions suggest a strong and direct connection between self-identity, place, and how individuals perceive and value the environment. The third, fourth, and fifth propositions tie together social group identity and place, particularly emphasizing the influence of social group identity on strategic behavior in natural resource politics. The sixth proposition relates to the geographic scale of place as a strategic choice in natural resource decision making. Taken together, the propositions suggest that natural resource politics is as much a contest over place meanings as it is a competition among interest groups over scarce resources. The place perspective suggests an expanded role for natural resource social scientists as giving voice to meanings and values that may not otherwise be expressed in natural resource decision-making processes.

The Healthy Forests Restoration Act of 2003 (HFRA) encourages communities to develop community wildfire protection plans (CWPPs) to reduce their wildland fire risk and promote healthier forested ecosystems. Communities who have developed CWPPs have done so using many different processes, resulting in plans with varied form and content. We analysed data from 13 case-study communities to illustrate how the characteristics of HFRA have encouraged communities to develop CWPPs that reflect their local social and ecological contexts. A framework for analysing policy implementation suggests that some elements of HFRA could have made CWPP development and implementation problematic, but these potential shortcomings in the statute have provided communities the freedom to develop CWPPs that are relevant to their conditions and allowed for the development of capacities that communities are using to move forward in several areas.