Research Database
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10
Building community-agency trust in fire affected communities in Australia and the United States
Year: 2013
As a result of the increasing environmental and social costs of wildfire, fire management agencies face ever-growing complexity in their management decisions and interactions with the public. The success of these interactions with community members may be facilitated through building community–agency trust in the process of providing public input opportunities and community engagement and education activities. Without trust, the public may become frustrated in their interactions with the agency and withhold support for management decisions. This study takes a comparative case approach using…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Assessing social vulnerability to climate change in human communities near public forests and grasslands: A framework for resource managers and planners
Year: 2013
Public land management agencies have incorporated the concept of vulnerability into protocols for assessing and planning for climate change impacts on public forests and grasslands. However, resource managers and planners have little guidance for how to address the social aspects of vulnerability in these assessments and plans. Failure to assess social vulnerability to climate change during management planning could compromise land management agencies’ adaptation strategies as well as public support for these strategies. We provide a framework for understanding and assessing social…
Publication Type: Journal Article
The effects of large wildfires on employment and wage growth and volatility in the western United States
Year: 2013
We examined the effect of large wildfires on economic growth and volatility in the western United States. We matched wildfire data with quarterly employment and earnings growth data to assess the specific effect of wildfire on employment and wage growth in western US counties. Wildfires generally tended to exhibit positive effects on employment and wage growth in the quarter(s) during which suppression efforts were active. However, this effect transitioned to increased economic volatility following a wildfire. The effect of wildfire also varied by the type of county in which wildfire occurred…
Publication Type: Journal Article
Systematic evidence-based review workshop
Year: 2013
In May of 2013, Oregon State University’s Forest and Natural Resources Extension Program in collaboration with the Northwest Fire Science Consortium offered one of the first systematic evidence based review training workshops in the Northwest. The workshop presenter was Dr. Gillian Petrokofsky from the University of Oxford; herself an expert in evidence-based forestry and systematic review development. The workshop was held over a period of 3 days from May 7-9, 2013, on the OSU campus in Corvallis and had 16 participants.
Publication Type: Report
Restoring & Managing Mixed Conifer Forests in the PNW
Year: 2013
Many collaborative groups working across the eastside of Oregon and Washington have developed good working agreements on treatments appropriate for ponderosa pine forest types. These groups are actively supporting and helping to develop projects that will meet ecological objectives for dry forests while generating jobs and economic activity in local communities. Currently, there is less agreement on how to approach restoration and management of mixed-conifer forests, in large part because there does not appear to be a comparable scientific consensus as that which exists for ponderosa pine…
Publication Type: Report
Changes in development near public forest lands in Oregon and Washington, 1974-2005: Implications for management
Year: 2013
Development owing to population increases over the last 30 years has greatly affected forested lands in the United States. To assess and compare increases in development, we counted changes in the number of structures on a systematic grid of photointerpreted points around public forest land in Washington and Oregon. Areas bordering public forest land are showing substantial increases in development, with the number of structures on private lands near almost all types of public forest more than doubling between the 1970s and 2000s. Lands bordering Washington’s Department of Natural Resources…
Publication Type: Report
American Voters' Views of Wildfires
Year: 2013
Forty-four percent (44%) of voters see uncontrollable wildfires as a serious problem. Equal numbers of voters say wildfires in the country are worse than they were five years ago as say they are about the same. On a personal level, a majority of voters are either more worried about wildfires affecting their own personal safety than they were five years ago, or worried the same amount. A majority of voters say that forest fires are unpredictable and dangerous and should be contained and extinguished as soon as they are discovered.
Publication Type: Report
Management of Cheatgrass Fuel Loading in the Shrub-Steppe
Year: 2013
The Columbia Basin Natural Wildlife Refuge (CNWR) had been periodically grazed until the Refuge was established in 1944. Cheatgrass became a prominent plant in the area. In 1986 a fire occurred near the study area. The area was reseeded with Elymus wawawaiensis (Snake River Wheatgrass, Secar cultivar). This grass has established reducing cheatgrass cover to very low levels. The study area was established in 2002 to test hypotheses on the effects of herbicides on plant community structure and establishment of Elymus wawawaiensis. In 2002 study plots were established and characterized before…
Publication Type: Report
Social Science at the WUI: A Compendium of Research Results to Create Fire-Adapted Communities
Year: 2013
Over the past decade, a growing body of research has been conducted on the human dimensions of wildland fire. Building on a relatively small number of foundational studies, this research now addresses a wide range of topics including mitigation activities on private lands, fuels reduction treatments on public land, community impacts and resident behaviors during fire, acceptance of approaches to postfire restoration and recovery, and fire management policy and decision making. As this research has matured, there has been a recognition of the need to examine the full body of resulting…
Publication Type: Report
Wildfire, Wildlands, and People: Understanding and preparing for wildfire in the wildland-urban interface
Year: 2013
Fire has historically played a fundamental ecological role in many of America’s wildland areas. However, the rising number of homes in the wildland-urban interface (WUI), associated impacts on lives and property from wildfire, and escalating costs of wildfire management have led to an urgent need for communities to become "fire-adapted." We present maps of the conterminous United States that illustrate historical natural fire regimes, the wildland-urban interface, and the number and location of structures burned since 1999. We outline a sampler of actions, programs, and community planning and…
Publication Type: Report