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• 1. [Article] Would You Like Fires with That? Using Stakeholder-Derived Forest Management Preference Maps to Model Landscape-level Fuel Reduction Treatment Effects on Wildfire Spread

  Management of public lands in the U.S. aims to achieve multiple goals relating to ecological function, wildlife habitat, support of local economies, and recreation; and in fire-prone landscapes these goals ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Would You Like Fires with That? Using Stakeholder-Derived Forest Management Preference Maps to Model Landscape-level Fuel Reduction Treatment Effects on Wildfire Spread Author: Cassell, Brooke A., Scheller, Robert M., Nielsen-Pincus, Max Year: 2017 Management of public lands in the U.S. aims to achieve multiple goals relating to ecological function, wildlife habitat, support of local economies, and recreation; and in fire-prone landscapes these goals are often combined with fuels reduction treatments such as forest thinning and prescribed fire. Applied landscape research may attempt to evaluate the tradeoffs implicit in public lands planning or envision potential future land management scenarios, but often fails to incorporate the spatial diversity of stakeholder perspectives. This study explores the use of public participation geographic systems (PPGIS) to identify spatial and thematic community preferences for fuel treatments in a fire-prone landscape in eastern Oregon. Through open-ended questionnaires and formal focus groups, participants identified their management preferences and identified areas they consider priorities for different types and intensities of fuel treatments. By digitizing these PPGIS-derived treatment maps and supplementing with treatment areas according to identified themes (e.g., protected areas, areas of decreased forest vitality), this research models the effects of alternative fuel reduction scenarios on wildfire spread across large landscapes during extreme weather events. In addition, this study provides insight into stakeholders’ preferences for fuel treatments, with preliminary results indicating high levels of approval for a variety of fuel reduction treatments. Title: Would You Like Fires with That? Using Stakeholder-Derived Forest Management Preference Maps to Model Landscape-level Fuel Reduction Treatment Effects on Wildfire Spread Author: Cassell, Brooke A., Scheller, Robert M., Nielsen-Pincus, Max Year: 2017 Management of public lands in the U.S. aims to achieve multiple goals relating to ecological function, wildlife habitat, support of local economies, and recreation; and in fire-prone landscapes these goals are often combined with fuels reduction treatments such as forest thinning and prescribed fire. Applied landscape research may attempt to evaluate the tradeoffs implicit in public lands planning or envision potential future land management scenarios, but often fails to incorporate the spatial diversity of stakeholder perspectives. This study explores the use of public participation geographic systems (PPGIS) to identify spatial and thematic community preferences for fuel treatments in a fire-prone landscape in eastern Oregon. Through open-ended questionnaires and formal focus groups, participants identified their management preferences and identified areas they consider priorities for different types and intensities of fuel treatments. By digitizing these PPGIS-derived treatment maps and supplementing with treatment areas according to identified themes (e.g., protected areas, areas of decreased forest vitality), this research models the effects of alternative fuel reduction scenarios on wildfire spread across large landscapes during extreme weather events. In addition, this study provides insight into stakeholders’ preferences for fuel treatments, with preliminary results indicating high levels of approval for a variety of fuel reduction treatments. Close

• 2. [Article] The Sociology of Landowner Interest in Restoring Fire-adapted, Biodiverse Habitats in the Wildland-Urban Interface Of Oregon's Willamette Valley Ecoregion

  In many parts of the world, the combined effects of wildfire, climate change, and population growth in the wildland-urban interface pose increasing risks to both people and biodiversity. These risks are ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: The Sociology of Landowner Interest in Restoring Fire-adapted, Biodiverse Habitats in the Wildland-Urban Interface Of Oregon's Willamette Valley Ecoregion Author: Nielsen-Pincus, Max Year: 2011 In many parts of the world, the combined effects of wildfire, climate change, and population growth in the wildland-urban interface pose increasing risks to both people and biodiversity. These risks are exemplified in western Oregon’s Willamette Valley Ecoregion, where population is projected to double by 2050 and climate change is expected to increase wildfire risk. Restoring elements of the region’s historic fire-adapted prairie, savanna, and woodland habitats may help to reduce future wildfire risk and help conserve the region’s threatened biodiversity. We report on a mail survey (n = 939) examining the socio-demographic factors influencing private landowners’ likelihood of restoring fire-adapted habitats in the future. We found that newer landowners, landowners with a liberal political ideology, and landowners who have experienced wildfire are more likely to restore fire-adapted habitats in the future than their long-time owner, conservative, or inexperienced counterparts. However, experience with wildfire ceased to be a significant influence when we controlled for underlying landowner motivations for owning their property. Our findings can help planners and scientists better understand and account for the effects of a dynamic human population’s influence on landscape patterns, structures, and composition. Title: The Sociology of Landowner Interest in Restoring Fire-adapted, Biodiverse Habitats in the Wildland-Urban Interface Of Oregon's Willamette Valley Ecoregion Author: Nielsen-Pincus, Max Year: 2011 In many parts of the world, the combined effects of wildfire, climate change, and population growth in the wildland-urban interface pose increasing risks to both people and biodiversity. These risks are exemplified in western Oregon’s Willamette Valley Ecoregion, where population is projected to double by 2050 and climate change is expected to increase wildfire risk. Restoring elements of the region’s historic fire-adapted prairie, savanna, and woodland habitats may help to reduce future wildfire risk and help conserve the region’s threatened biodiversity. We report on a mail survey (n = 939) examining the socio-demographic factors influencing private landowners’ likelihood of restoring fire-adapted habitats in the future. We found that newer landowners, landowners with a liberal political ideology, and landowners who have experienced wildfire are more likely to restore fire-adapted habitats in the future than their long-time owner, conservative, or inexperienced counterparts. However, experience with wildfire ceased to be a significant influence when we controlled for underlying landowner motivations for owning their property. Our findings can help planners and scientists better understand and account for the effects of a dynamic human population’s influence on landscape patterns, structures, and composition. Close