To better understand the wildland-urban interface across the 13 Southern States and to identify issues to be covered in the USDA Forest Service report, 'Human Influences on Forest ecosystems: The Southern Wildland-Urban Interface Assessment,' 12 focus groups were conducted in 6 of the southern States in May and June 2000. The groups were guided through a series of questions that enabled them to describe the interface in their region, list the factors that are driving change, and the key issues associated with the interface. The groups also discussed the challenges and opportunities in the interface and what they need to do a better job. 'Summary'...'The challenge of managing growth while protecting natural resources is not new or surprising, but the depth of frustration expressed by many participants was startling. This frustration seemed based in the perception that politically acceptable and implementable solutions are not available. Traditional natural resource management tools do not seem to be effective in the fragmented wildland-urban interface; the ability to manage larger tracts seems short-lived. Planning, zoning, policies, and political leadership appear to be ineffective; and economic incentives all point towards more growth and sprawl. A significant segment of society, those who often become champions of change, appears to be apathetic, unaware of environmental problems, or supportive of sprawl for increased convenience. Many expressed the need to better understand resource problems they face, to work with cooperative agencies and communicate among themselves, to promote conservation behaviors and play a role in developing effective policies, to work with visionary leaders, and to change the course of their future.'