Casey J. Fleming is a doctoral student in the Department of Public Administration at North Carolina State University. His research interests include areas of human resource management and organizational behavior, particularly bureaucratic rules and rule bending. During 2012 and 2013, he worked as research assistant on the Fire Chasers project at North Carolina State University. E-mail: cflemin2@ncsu.edu Emily B. McCartha is a doctoral student in the Department of Public Administration at North Carolina State University. Her research focuses on examin- ing relational and structural components of collaborative arrangements, particularly those related to shared public land. During 2012 and 2013, she worked as research assistant on the Fire Chasers project at North Carolina State University. E-mail: ebmccart@ncsu.edu Toddi A. Steelman is executive director and professor in the School of Environment and Sustainability at the University of Saskatchewan. Her research focuses on improving the governance of environmental and natural resources, emphasizing science, policy, and decision-making interactions. She places special emphasis on the role of the public and community in decision mak- ing. She is codirector, with Branda Nowell, of the Fire Chasers project at North Carolina State University (http://research.cnr.ncsu. edu/blogs/firechasers/). E-mail: toddi.steelman@usask.ca Conflict and Collaboration in Wildfire Management: The Role of Mission Alignment 1 Public Administration Review, Vol. xx, Iss. xx, pp. xx–xx. © 2015 by The American Society for Public Administration. DOI: 10.1111/puar.12353. Casey J. Fleming Emily B. McCartha North Carolina State University Toddi A. Steelman University of Saskatchewan, Canada Abstract: Responding to large wildfires requires actors from multiple jurisdictions and multiple levels of government to work collaboratively. he missions and objectives of federal agencies often differ from those of state land management agencies as well as local wildfire response agencies regarding land use and wildfire management. As wildfire size and intensity increase over time and associated annual suppression costs range between $2 billion and $3 billion, learning more about the existence and management of perceived agency differences becomes imperative within the academic and practitioner communities. his article examines the extent to which perceived mission misalignment exists among federal, state, and local actors and how well those differences are managed. Findings provide quantitative evidence that mission misalignment is greater within intergovernmental relationships than within intragovernmental relation- ships. Additionally, findings speak to the larger conversation around intergovernmental relationships within the federal structure and perceptions of the presence and management of potential interagency conflict. Practitioner Points • Potential conflict between the missions of federal and state land agencies presents a challenge for disaster management, and differing governmental levels and land-use mandates may highlight relationships where tensions are likely greater. • Wildfire managers may need to more proactively address relationships among federal agencies and state and local partners rather than relationships among multiple federal agencies. • Wildfire management may benefit from increased awareness of—and discussion around—partner agencies’ stated land management philosophies and legal mandates, as structural frameworks, such as the Incident Command Structure, may not alone lead to conflict-free collaboration. intergovernmental blends of local, state, and federal participants that respond to disasters (Choi and Brower 2006; Comfort and Kapucu 2006; Kapucu 2005, 2006; Moynihan 2010). However, understand- ing the conditions under which conflict can arise and how it can be managed is essential to understanding the opportunities and limitations of collaboration. Greater insight into these dynamics presents oppor- tunities for improved disaster management and has important theoretical implications. One area that is ripe for investigation is how the mission alignment of different agencies and organiza- tions responding to a disaster influences the capacity for collaboration and conflict. Mission misalignment may reflect the strategic decisions of agencies to serve divergent yet meaningful purposes. herefore, misalignment is not inher- ently harmful or undesirable; however, it may create tensions Conflict and Collaboration in Wildfire Management: he Role of Mission Alignment L arge-scale wildfires do not respect jurisdictional boundaries. Wildfires, like most disasters, require the collaboration of multiple agencies and organizations in a networked response (Drabek and McEntire 2002, 2003; Kapucu, Arslan, and Collins 2010; Steelman et al. 2014; Waugh and Streib 2006). While working toward a commonly identi- fied goal—successfully managing a disaster—this interdependent collaboration can lead to conflict (O’Leary and Bingham 2009). he potential for con- flict arises when different agencies and organizations work together under conditions that create tensions between the need to serve an individual organization’s interests and the desire to serve the collective whole. A critical task of managing complex collaborative struc- tures is to identify and manage conflict (Milward and Provan 2000). Scholarship on disasters largely focuses on the efficacy of interactions among diverse Misalignment is not inherently harmful or undesirable; how- ever, it may create tensions in interagency relationships that require effective management.