Valuing hypothetical wildfire impacts with a Kuhn–Tucker model of recreation demand

This study uses a nonmarket valuation method to investigate the recreation values of the San Jacinto Wilderness in southern California. The analysis utilizes survey data from a stated-choice experiment involving backcountry visitors who responded to questions about hypothetical wildfire burn scenarios. Benefits of landscape preservation are derived using a Kuhn–Tucker (KT) demand system. Model results suggest that recreationists are attracted to sites with recent wildfires that can be viewed up-close. For example, recreational welfare estimates increased for sites that were partially affected by different types of wildfires, with the greatest gains being observed for the most recent wildfires. Per person mean seasonal willingness-to-pay varied from a low of $10 to a high of $48, for total gains ranging from $62,223 to $635,286. However, wildfires that cause trail closures create welfare losses. Seasonal losses per person for complete closure of particular sites range from $3 to $221, for total losses ranging from $29,600 to $2.9 million.     

Effects of wildfire on the value of recreation in western North America

Wildfires play an integral role in forest ecosystems of western North America. In an attempt to measure the level and value of ecosystem damage caused by wildfires, papers employing nonmarket valuation techniques—stated preference, revealed preference, and combined methods—are reviewed. A systematic review of results shows a portion of visitors finding conditions desirable in the initial years following moderate burn. Common individual traits and other site characteristics are also found to have significant effect on recreational trip demand. The conclusions reached in this study may assist in providing future guidance to forest and natural resource management programs on the role of fire in influencing value for recreational services derived from national forestlands.     

Tree Recruitment from On-site Versus Off-site Propagule Sources During Tropical Forest Succession

The management of successional forests has become an increasingly important tool for tropical forest restoration on disturbed lands. Successful management depends on understanding factors governing tree recruitment during succession. Recruits can be on-site propagules surviving disturbance (e.g. saplings) or seeds arriving after disturbance. Among disturbed sites, the importance of seed arrival from off-site should increase as availability of on-site propagules declines. This study examines how seed arrival from off-site seemed to influence natural forest regrowth on logged plantations in Uganda. Specifically, the effect of seed arrival from mammals (determined directly) and birds (determined inferentially) was estimated in two plantations with high and three plantations with low quantities of saplings surviving logging. In both plantation types, first-year recruitment seemed to originate from on-site (seed bank and sprouts from damaged trees) and off-site sources (seed-dispersing birds). Recruitment declined 2–3 years after logging in all plantations despite high densities of seed-dispersing birds. Recruitment was generally greater in plantations with low initial quantities of on-site propagules, and by 4–6 years forest structure was similar between plantation types. Recruitment was dominated by bird-dispersed species, rather than mammal- or wind-dispersed species. Taken together, these results illustrate that disturbed areas with low initial on-site propagule availability have much potential for forest regrowth.     

Wildlife responses to thinning and burning treatments in southwestern conifer forests: A meta-analysis

After a century of fire suppression, conifer forests in the western United States have dramatically departed from conditions that existed prior to Euro-American settlement, with heavy fuel loads and an increased incidence of wildfire. To reduce this threat and improve overall forest health, land managers are designing landscape-scale treatments that strategically locate thinning and burning treatments to disrupt fuel continuity, allowing managed wildfires to burn the remaining area. A necessary step in designing and evaluating these treatments is understanding their ecological effects on wildlife. We used meta-analysis to compare effects of small-diameter removal (thinnings and shelterwoods) and burning treatments, selective harvesting, overstory removal (including clearcutting), and wildfire on wildlife species in southwestern conifer forests. We hypothesized that small-diameter removal and burning treatments would have minimal effects on wildlife compared to other treatments. We found 33 studies that met our criteria by (1) comparing density or reproductive output for wildlife species, (2) using forest management or wildfire treatments, (3) implementing control-impact or before-after control-impact design using unmanaged stands as controls, and (4) occurring in Arizona or New Mexico ponderosa pine (Pinus ponderosa) or mixed conifer (Abies/Picea/Pinus) forest. The 22 studies suitable for meta-analysis occurred ≤20 years post-treatment on sites <400 ha. Small-diameter harvest and burning treatments had positive effects but thin/burn and selective harvest treatments had no detectable effect on most small mammals and passerine bird species reported in studies; overstory removal and wildfire resulted in an overall negative response. We examined foraging guild responses to treatments; ground-foraging birds and rodents had no strong response. Aerial-, tree-, and bole-foraging birds had positive or neutral responses to the small-diameter removal and burning treatments, but negative responses to overstory removal and wildfire. Small-diameter removal and burning treatments as currently being implemented in the Southwest do not negatively impact most of the wildlife species in the studies we examined in the short-term (≤10 years). We believe a combination of treatments in a patchy arrangement across the landscape will result in the highest diversity and density. We recommend that managers implement thinning and burning treatments, but that future research efforts focus on long-term responses of species at larger spatial scales, use reproductive output as a more informative response variable, and target species for which there is a paucity of data.     

The role of social and environmental attitudes in non-market valuation: An application to the Białowieża Forest

The purpose of this study is to investigate the impact of non-economic motivations such as altruism and environmental concerns on social preferences and hence willingness to pay (WTP) for changes in forest management strategies in the Białowieża Forest in Poland. We used data from a discrete choice experiment (CE) with attributes describing changes in the quality of the forest and recreation. The choice experiment technique makes it possible to disentangle the effect of the trait of altruism and environmental concern with regard to different attributes and their levels. Environmental attitudes were measured using the New Ecological Paradigm (NEP) scale, whereas the trait of altruism was determined using the Self-Reported Altruism (SRA) scale. The parameterization employed in the survey was a WTP space model. Results show that both altruism and environmental concerns have significant effects on the amount people are willing to pay for changes in forest management.     

Willingness to pay function for two fuel treatments to reduce wildfire acreage burned: A scope test and comparison of White and Hispanic households

This research uses the Contingent Valuation Method to test whether willingness to pay increases for larger reductions in acres of forests burned by wildfires across the states of California, Florida and Montana. This is known as a test of scope, a measure of internal validity of the contingent valuation method (CVM). The scope test is conducted separately for White households and Hispanic households to determine if cultural differences influences whether the scope test is passed. The public program to reduce acres burned involved prescribed burning and a mechanical fuel reduction program. The results of CVM logit regressions show that the acreage reduction variable is statistically significant at the 1% level for the two proposed fuel reduction programs, and the two types of households. The positive sign of this variable means that the more acreage reduction proposed in the survey the more likely people would pay for the fuel reduction program. Because of the significance of the acreage reduction variable in the willingness to pay function, this function can be used to evaluate the incremental benefits of different forest fire management plans that reduce acres burned by wildfires. These benefits would be part of the justification for prescribed burning and mechanical fire fuel reduction programs to protect forests from wildfires.     

A comparison of landscape fuel treatment strategies to mitigate wildland fire risk in the urban interface and preserve old forest structure

We simulated fuel reduction treatments on a 16,000 ha study area in Oregon, US, to examine tradeoffs between placing fuel treatments near residential structures within an urban interface, versus treating stands in the adjacent wildlands to meet forest health and ecological restoration goals. The treatment strategies were evaluated by simulating 10,000 wildfires with random ignition locations and calculating burn probabilities by 0.5 m flame length categories for each 30 m × 30 m pixel in the study area. The burn conditions for the wildfires were chosen to replicate severe fire events based on 97th percentile historic weather conditions. The burn probabilities were used to calculate wildfire risk profiles for each of the 170 residential structures within the urban interface, and to estimate the expected (probabilistic) wildfire mortality of large trees (>53.3 cm) that are a key indicator of stand restoration objectives. Expected wildfire mortality for large trees was calculated by building flame length mortality functions using the Forest Vegetation Simulator, and subsequently applying these functions to the burn probability outputs. Results suggested that treatments on a relatively minor percentage of the landscape (10%) resulted in a roughly 70% reduction in the expected wildfire loss of large trees for the restoration scenario. Treating stands near residential structures resulted in a higher expected loss of large trees, but relatively lower burn probability and flame length within structure buffers. Substantial reduction in burn probability and flame length around structures was also observed in the restoration scenario where fuel treatments were located 5–10 km distant. These findings quantify off-site fuel treatment effects that are not analyzed in previous landscape fuel management studies. The study highlights tradeoffs between ecological management objectives on wildlands and the protection of residential structures in the urban interface. We also advance the application of quantitative risk analysis to the problem of wildfire threat assessment.     

Impact of human factors on wildfire occurrence in Mississippi,United States

Fires have important ecological and socioeconomic effects in fire-prone regions globally. Human-caused wildfires often pose considerable safety and environmental hazards, and can result in sizeable economic losses. This study analyzed the relative importance of temporal, spatial, and socioeconomic factors on occurrence of 52,532 human-caused wildfires in Mississippi that burned during 1991–2005. The probability of human-caused wildfires was modeled using a multinomial logit regression for unordered nominal outcomes. Results indicated that in comparison to incendiary wildfires, other types of human-caused wildfires were most likely to occur in summer. Wildfires caused by equipment use, children, and debris burning were more likely than incendiary wildfires to occur in close proximity to primary roads and railroad tracks, whereas close proximity to population centers increased the relative likelihood of wildfires caused by debris burning. Socioeconomic characteristics also influenced occurrence of many human-caused wildfires. Wildfires caused by children and debris burning were more likely than incendiary wildfires to occur in densely populated areas, whereas wildfires caused by debris burning, equipment use, and related to smoking were more likely in areas with high unemployment rates and large proportions of people below the poverty level. Wildfires related to smoking were also more likely than incendiary wildfires to occur in areas with higher median income. These findings will be helpful in predicting wildfire occurrence as well as developing new wildfire awareness and prevention strategies, allocating resources, and reducing wildfire damage costs in Mississippi and other fire-prone regions.     

Potential CO2 emissions mitigation through forest prescribed burning: A case study in Patagonia, Argentina

Wildland fire is a natural force that has shaped most vegetation types of the world. However, its inappropriate management during the last century has led to more frequent and catastrophic fires. Wildland fires are also recognized as one of the sources of CO₂ and other greenhouse gases (GHG) that influence global climate change. As one of the techniques used to reduce the risk of destructive wildfires, prescribed burning has the potential of mitigating carbon emissions, and effectively contributes to the efforts proposed as part of the Clean Development Mechanism within the Kyoto protocol. In order to apply this concept to a real case, a simulation study was conducted in pine afforestation in the Andean region of Patagonia, Argentina, with the objective of evaluating the potential of prescribed burning for reducing GHG emissions. The scenario was established for a ten year period, in which simulated prescribed burning was compared to the traditional management scheme, which included the probability of annual average of wildfire occurrence based on available wildfire statistics. The two contrasting scenarios were: (1) managed afforestation, affected by the annual average rate of wildfires occurred in the same type of afforestation in the region, without prescribed burning, and (2) same as (1) but with the application of simulated prescribed burning. In order to estimate carbon stocks, and CO₂ removals and emissions, we followed the guidelines given for GHG inventories on the Agriculture, Forestry and Other Land Uses (AFOLU) sector of the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), while the terminology used was the established by IPCC (2003). Data of afforested area, thinnings, and biomass growth were taken from previous surveys in the study area. Downed dead wood and litter (forest fuel load, FFL) was estimated adjusting equations fitted to those fuels, based on field data. Results show that comparing the two scenarios, prescribed burning reduced CO₂ emissions by 44% compared to the situation without prescribed burning. The prescribed burning scenario represented about 12% of the total emissions (prescribed burning plus wildfires). Furthermore, avoided wildfires by simulated prescribed burning allowed an additional 78% GHG emissions mitigation due to extra biomass growth. Simulated prescribed burning in commercial afforestation of Patagonia appears to be an effective management practice not only to prevent wildfires, but also an efficient tool to mitigate GHG emissions. However, more studies in different scenarios would be needed to generalize these benefits to other ecosystems.     

Estimating the value of preserving the Manchurian black bear using the contingent valuation method

Abstract

Although non-consumptive wildlife use is increasingly in demand, its preservation value is not estimated with sufficient accuracy. This study estimates the value of the endangered Manchurian black bear associated with preservation programmes (hereafter, “preservation value”) using a dichotomous choice contingent valuation method in a real-world setting. Since using a hypothetical setting in the contingent valuation method tends to overestimate willingness to pay (WTP), a specially designed field experimental survey was used to incorporate a real-world setting and thereby reduce hypothetical bias, ultimately increasing the accuracy of the estimated WTP. The survey results show that when the responses from the hypothetical setting and real-world setting are compared, the estimated WTP based on the hypothetical setting is higher than that based on the real-world setting. Thus, the real-world setting appears to be effective in terms of reducing hypothetical bias. The preservation value indicated in the real-world setting is estimated at US $4.99 per household for visitors to Chirisan National Park in South Korea, and the annual aggregate preservation value is estimated at US $3.66 million when considering total visitor households. The WTP results show that visitors to Chirisan National Park strongly support preservation programmes for this endangered wildlife species.     

STUDY ON THE NETWORK OF FOREST BURNING LINKS

Based on the research of the Forest Burning Links published in the Journal ofNortheast Forestry University in 1987,this paper continues to study the theory of forest burningFire behavior has been divided into two important series in this paper.One is fire occurrence andspread, and the other is burning intensity.The first series has been divided into three grades as A:toburn difficulty and spread slowly;B:to burn possibly and spread little fast;and C:to burn easilyand spread fast.The second series has been divided into four grades as I:light burning;Ⅱ:me-dium burning;Ⅲ:intense burning;and Ⅳ:severe burning.The firsts series can be put as ordinate,and the second series can be put as abscissa.Then the network of 12 forest burning links can beformed.In the network,the relatioship,the law of distribution and the variation of different forestburning links can be shown clearly.The studies of the distrubution of fuel types,topography,siteand fire kinds in the network can provide the basic theory for fire mana     

Willingness-to-pay for prescribed fire in the Colorado (USA) wildland urban interface

During the summer of 2001, survey data were collected from Colorado residents living near public lands (i.e., the wildland urban interface). Data were collected by telephone after mailing respondents a survey. These data include detailed information of respondents' views towards wildfire management and willingness-to-pay (WTP) values for prescribed burning. Results indicate that Colorado residents living near public lands are aware that fire is a natural process in their area and are in favor of using prescribed burning for fire risk reduction. They also are willing-to-pay an annual tax for prescribed fire undertaken on the public lands near their homes. Respondents' support for adopting a fire risk mitigation policy based on prescribed fire depended on perceived fire frequency intervals. The substantial WTP values for prescribed burning indicate that the public living in the wildland urban interface could potentially pay an annual tax, so the burden of wildfire management need no longer predominantly lie in the hands of the general taxpayers.     

Long-term impacts of prescribed burning on regional extent and incidence of wildfires—Evidence from 50 years of active fire management in SW Australian forests

Prescribed burning is advocated for the sustainable management of fire-prone ecosystems for its capacity to reduce fuel loads and mitigate large high-intensity wildfires. However, there is a lack of comprehensive field evidence on which to base predictions of the benefits of prescribed burning for meeting either wildfire hazard reduction or conservation goals. Australian eucalypt forests are among the very few forest types in the world where prescribed burning has been practised long enough and at a large enough spatial scale to quantify its effect on the incidence and extent of unplanned fires. Nevertheless even for Australian forests evidence of the effectiveness of prescribed burning remains fragmented and largely unpublished in the scientific literature.     

Viability of Introducing Payments for the Collection of Wild Forest Mushrooms in Catalonia (North-East Spain)

Wild mushrooms are among the most valuable non-wood forest products in the world, and mushroom picking activities are well developed in many countries. Recent studies have demonstrated important links between forest management options and the productivity of mushrooms. Furthermore, there is evidence that the optimal forest management oriented at maximizing joint revenues from timber and mushrooms can lead to higher profits than the traditional timber-oriented management. The precondition for such management, however, is that forest owners derive benefits from mushrooms produced in their forests. In this paper, we discuss the feasibility of implementing payments for mushroom harvesting in Catalonia, North East Spain. As in many other European regions, mushroom picking in Catalonia is a long-standing tradition, which has been practiced with negligible limitations for centuries. The rising popularity of this activity in the last decades, however, has caused forest owners to voice concerns about the sustainability of this activity and about the impact it has on the private forest property. We document the results of a public opinion survey and contrast them with the issues emergent from forest owners’ interviews about the regulation of mushroom picking activities. Our results show that mushroom pickers support the idea of introducing payments for mushroom harvesting. Based on the survey and interview results, we also discuss the design aspects of payments for mushroom picking and articulate the key issues in their implementation.     

Rural land-use and wildland fires in the tropics

Tropical forest land is increasingly influenced by man-caused wildfires. The vast majority of the forested area burnt and cleared annually is in the tropics. The use of fire in rural land-use systems is the major cause of the wildfires. Five broad causative agencies of wildfires are presented, shifting cultivation, grazing, non-wood forest products, migration programs and the wildland/residential interface. Integrated concepts of prescribed burning and prescribed grazing may offer solutions to the tropical wildland fire problems.     

Rural land-use and wildland fires in the tropics

Tropical forest land is increasingly influenced by man-caused wildfires. The vast majority of the forested area burnt and cleared annually is in the tropics. The use of fire in rural land-use systems is the major cause of the wildfires. Five broad causative agencies of wildfires are presented, shifting cultivation, grazing, non-wood forest products, migration programs and the wildland/residential interface. Integrated concepts of prescribed burning and prescribed grazing may offer solutions to the tropical wildland fire problems.     

Impact of Changes in the Sociological Characteristics of Small-Scale Forest Owners on Timber Harvesting Behavior in Quebec,Canada

Owing to the economic, social and environmental impacts associated with timber harvesting by small-scale forest owners, a number of studies have characterized their profiles, motivations and activities at a given time. However, little research has focused on how timber production has been affected by changes in the prevalence of types of forest owners over time. A 2012 telephone survey of Quebec (Canada) small-scale forest owners reveals relationships between level of harvesting and socio-demographic factors, and an evolution of these factors by examining the results of surveys conducted in 1973 and 1985. Within the same population, property size, distance between owners’ forest and homes, possession of a forest management plan, gender, education level, the length of ownership are correlated with how likely respondents were to harvest timber on their forest. Furthermore, comparison with results from previous surveys of the same population show an increase in the prevalence of characteristics associated with owners who place less importance on timber harvesting in their management decisions. Overall, since the initial survey of forest owners conducted in 1973, the size of forest holdings in Quebec has decreased, respondents’ education level has improved and the proportion of forests owned by women have increased. However, these changes are occurring at a relatively slow rate, giving government authorities time to implement policies to encourage harvesting among the new generation of forest owners.     

The economics of timber supply: Does it pay to reduce harvest levels?

Sustained yield policies designed to ensure an even annual flow of timber harvests remain the most common approach to forest management on public lands in Canada. Such policies have been criticized on the environmental grounds that timber production is emphasized at the expense of other values, and on the economic grounds that policy-makers try to maximize the harvests level without regard for economic optimality (measured by whether or not revenues cover variable costs of production). In a case study from Northern Ontario, we used a spatially explicit harvest scheduling model to evaluate financial outputs for various scenarios, introducing different timber flow constraints, as well as varying utilization policies. We show that current policies do contribute to firms harvesting at uneconomic levels. More specifically, our results show that reducing harvest levels could increase firm profitability (measured in an increase in net revenues associated with harvesting operations). We estimate that to meet the annual allowable cut (AAC) of approximately 375,000 cubic metres (m³), the firm loses $500,000 annually (measured by the amount by which total harvesting costs exceed log values delivered at the mill). Reducing the target AAC to just under 300,000 m³ leads to a reversed situation, harvesting revenues now exceeding costs by $1.2 million annually. Dropping the even flow constraint leads to even higher annual profitability of $3.5 million, with the drawback that harvesting levels show significant variation over the 100-year planning period. Our results also show that the largest factor influencing the level of profitability is attributed to access costs (principally roading costs). In this case, other harvesting policies, such as utilization standards, may not be significant factors affecting costs in this region of Northern Ontario.     

森林采伐迹地清理方式对迹地土壤理化性质的影响

采伐剩余物迹地清理是森林作业的重要组成部分之一。本文通过在黑龙江省带岭林业局野外迹地取样和实验室分析 ,对森林采伐剩余物迹地清理方式对迹地土壤的影响进行了初步研究。结果表明 ,迹地清理方式对作业迹地土壤理化特性产生一定程度的影响 ,进而影响森林采伐后的迹地天然更新与苗木生长质量。研究结果还表明 ,火烧和堆积方法对迹地土壤物理特性影响不十分显著 ,但对土壤的化学特性影响十分显著 ,尤其是火烧迹地土壤养分流失程度差异比较显著