North Central Research Station NFP 2000 - Modeling people's responses to stand and landscaoe level treatments for preventing wildfires and restoring fire-affected areas

Introducing the Northern Research Station

The North Central Research Station and the Northeastern Research Station have joined to form the Northern Research Station. Our 20-state region spans the Midwest from Minnesota to Missouri and the Northeast from Maine to Maryland.

Our Research Programs in the National Fire Plan 2000

Modeling people's responses to stand and landscape level treatments for preventing wildfires and restoring fire-affected areas.

Topic(s): B-i Restoring landscapes and rebuilding communities, post-fire treatments; C-i Reducing hazardous fuels and fire risk, assessment, C-iii Reducing hazardous fuels and fire risk, treatments; D-i Working with communities, social and economic systems.

Proposal title: Modeling people's responses to stand and landscape level treatments for preventing wildfires and restoring fire-affected areas.

Other proposals to which this is linked (Proposal code): NC- 2.1, 2.2, 2.2.1, 2.2.2, 2.2.3, 2.2.4, 2.3, 2.4, 4.1.

Research Work Units): RWU NC-4902 Natural Environments for Urban Populations, Chicago, IL; RWU NC-4803 Social and Economic Dimensions of Ecosystem Management, St. Paul, MN; RWU NC-4101 Northern Forest Silviculture, and NC 4351 Ecology and Management of Riparian Aquatic Systems, Grand Rapids, MN; RWU NC-4154 Central Hardwood Silviculture and Ecology, Columbia, MO..

Description: Research or Development, Question, Issue, or Need: The purpose of this research is to evaluate public response to fire management treatments-particularly fuel reduction and restoration-across a range of social and biophysical settings. This research is urgently needed so that land managers can choose communication and treatment strategies more wisely, and so they can help reduce controversies and strengthen constituencies for fire management treatments. A significant body of research on people's perceptions of forest harvesting alternatives and responses to restoration activities (much of it conducted by NC-4902 and its partners) suggests the possibility of both positive and negative public reactions under certain circumstances, yet little work has focused directly on the issues of expanded treatments to reduce fuel loads or restore burned areas. Existing models of people's responses to forest management and restoration provide some guidance for assessing fire treatments at the stand level, but new techniques and methods are needed to assess perceptions of temporal and spatial impacts at the landscape level. There could also be considerable variation between individuals in how different fire management treatments are evaluated depending upon where they live, particularly in relation to their proximity to the urban/wildland interface; their knowledge of wildland fire; and their perceptions of risk.

Research and Development Approach: The research will be built around three key situations relating to expanded treatments for fire management: 1) treatments to reduce fire risk from fuel loading, such as conditions resulting from the recent blowdown in and around the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness; 2) treatments to restore ecosystems where wildfire has already occurred, such as areas in the North Central region and western U.S. that have recently burned; and 3) treatments to restore the health of fire-dependent ecosystems, such as oak savanna and pine barren forest types. In the first phase of this work, stand-level predictive models will be developed for each situation to assess public perceptions of aesthetic impact and the social acceptability of treatments. Individuals will be asked to evaluate treatments through the use of slides or videotape of the areas, with computer video imaging used to simulate typical future treatment scenarios. Separate models will be developed to assess potential differences in perceptions among different stakeholder groups, including urban/wildland interface residents, visitors, and private timber producers. Individuals' knowledge of fire and fire risk will also be assessed, as will their attitudes toward fire management practices. In the second phase of the research, this quantitative information will be used along with qualitative information obtained through focus groups and simulation/gaming technology to develop scenarios for assessing the social acceptability of different treatments as they are applied at the landscape level and over time. This information will provide a social layer of information that can link with spatial-temporal information on silvicultural/fuels treatments from models such as LANDIS and NORTHWDS.

First year: Fire managers will have improved understanding of public responses to actual and proposed fuel reduction and restoration efforts in the North Central Region and selected areas nationally as a result of initial studies conducted under this effort.

Second year: Fire managers will have new insights into the aesthetic impact and social acceptability of treatments given various physical, social, and fire risk conditions. These insights will be based, in part, on stand-level predictive models. Fire managers will have preliminary strategies for dialogue with the public over fuel reduction and restoration strategies in the North Central Region, and critical areas around the U.S.

Three to five years out: Managers will be able to predict the acceptability of treatments at the landscape scale through linkages with spatial and temporal information generated by LANDIS and NORTHWDS models. Managers will have access to final strategies and guidelines for public dialogue. A Web-based interactive program based on the study models will illustrate the effects of different treatments on judgments of aesthetic impact and social acceptability.

Staffing needs: 1 Research Social Scientist (GS-101-12/13), 2 RJVA's, and technical support for field work and simulations.

Description of skills required: Environmental psychologist with experience modeling and explaining people's responses to stand/landscape treatments. It will be critical that this individual is able to work on inter-disciplinary teams.

Potential Partners: The work will be carried out in consultation and partnership with an extensive network of research partners around the U.S. and internationally who have worked with us on stand/landscape perception projects dealing with timber harvesting, insect infestations, fire (very few instances), and other disruptions. This network includes Dr. Terry Daniel at the University of Arizona, Dr. James Palmer at the State University of New York at Syracuse, Dr. Robert Ribe at the University of Oregon, Dr. Bruce Hull at Virginia Tech, Professor Brian Orland at Penn State University, Professor Joan Nassauer at the University of Michigan, Dr. Stephen Sheppard at the University of British Columbia, Dr. Eckart Lange at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, and Dr. Ian Bishop at the University of Melbourne.

Leveraging: This research will build upon a joint venture research agreement established in 1999 with Dr. Terry Daniel at the University of Arizona ($90,000) that looks at perceptions of ecological management techniques, and upon efforts being planned by a consortium of researchers headed by Dr. Stephen Sheppard at the University of British Columbia that is examining the links between aesthetic and sustainability values. This work will further to contribute to priority objectives established by the NCRS's Forest Productivity Integrated Program.