We predicted that social trust in the USDA Forest Service would mediate the relationship between shared value similarity (SVS) and attitudes toward prescribed burning and mechanical thinning. Data were obtained from a mail survey (n = 532) of rural Colorado residents living in the wildland urban interface (WUI). A structural equation analysis was used to assess the mediation role of social trust. Results indicated that respondents shared the same values as USDA Forest Service managers, and trusted the agency to use prescribed burning and mechanical thinning effectively. As hypothesized, social trust fully mediated the relationship between salient value similarity and attitudes toward prescribed burning and mechanical thinning. As salient value similarity increased, social trust in the agency increased. As social trust increased, approval of prescribed burning and mechanical thinning increased. These findings reinforce the role of social trust in gaining public support for wildfire management and support prior SVS research suggesting that trust mediates the relationship between value similarity and attitudes.