Teleconnections between land use and wildfire

Butsic, V., M. Kelly and M. A. Moritz. Land Use and Wildfire: A Review of Local Interactions and Teleconnections. Land 2015, 4(1), 140-156; doi:10.3390/land4010140

Fire is a naturally occurring process of most terrestrial ecosystems as well as a tool for changing land use. Since the beginning of history humans have used fire as a mechanism for creating areas suitable for agriculture and settlement. As fires threaten human dominated landscapes, fire risk itself has become a driver of landscape change, impacting landscapes through land use regulations and fire management. Land use changes also influence fire ignition frequency and fuel loads and hence alters fire regimes. The impact of these changes is often exacerbated as new land users demand alternative fire management strategies, which can impact land cover and management far from where land use change has actually occurred. This creates nuanced land use teleconnections between source areas for fires and economic cores, which demand and fund fire protection.

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Management Without Borders? Landowner Practices and Attitudes toward Cross-Boundary Cooperation

Ferranto, S., L. Huntsinger, C. Getz, W. Stewart, G. Nakamura, and M. Kelly. 2013. Management without borders? A survey of landowner practices and attitudes towards cross-­boundary cooperation. Society and Natural Resources 26(9): 1082-1100. DOI: 10.1080/08941920.2013.779343.

Ecosystem management requires cross-jurisdictional problem-solving and, when private lands are involved, cross-boundary cooperation from many individual landowners. Fragmented ownership patterns and variation in ownership values, as well as distrust and transaction costs, can limit cooperation. Results from a landowner survey in California were analyzed using an audience segmentation approach. Landowners were grouped into four clusters according to ownership motivations: rural lifestyle, working landscape, natural amenity, and financial investment. All clusters showed willingness to cooperate for all three topics addressed in the survey (pest and disease control, fire hazard reduction, and wildlife conservation), but their degree of willingness differed by cluster, who they were expected to cooperate with, and the natural resource problem addressed. All were more willing to cooperate with neighbors and local groups than with state and federal agencies. Landowners were most willing to cooperate to reduce fire hazard, which is the most direct threat to property and well-being. Journal link.

Sampling effects in PPGIS and VGI for public lands management

Brown, G., M. Kelly and D. Whital. 2013. Which “public”? Sampling effects in public participation GIS (PPGIS) and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) systems for public lands management. Journal of Environmental Planning and Environment 57(2): 190-214. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/09640568.2012.741045

Web 2.0 technologies including Public Participation Geographic Information Systems (PPGIS) and Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) provide methods for engaging multiple publics in public lands management. We examined the effects of sampling in a PPGIS/VGI application for national forest planning in the U.S. A random sample (RS) of households and a volunteer public (VP) were invited to participate in an internet-based PPGIS to identify national forest values and use preferences. Spatial and non-spatial group responses were analysed. The VP group expressed stronger utilitarian values and consumptive use preferences while the RS group preferred forest amenities. These results would lead to different planning decisions. PPGIS/VGI methods should include scientific sampling to ground-truth voluntary participation. Journal Link.

Key words: public participation . PPGIS . volunteered geographic information . VGI . forest planning . public lands

How do owners of California's working landscapes manage their land?

Plieninger, T., S. Ferranto, L. Huntsinger, M. Kelly, and C. Getz. 2012. Appreciation, use, and management of biodiversity and ecosystem services in California’s working landscapes. Environmental Management. 50(3):427-440 DOI 10.1007/s00267-012-9900-z. 

‘‘Working landscapes’’ is the concept of fostering effective ecosystem stewardship and conservation through active human presence and management and integrating livestock, crop, and timber production with the provision of a broad range of ecosystem services at the landscape scale. Based on a statewide survey of private landowners of ‘‘working’’ forests and rangelands in California, we investigated whether owners who are engaged in commercial livestock or timber production appreciate and manage biodiversity and ecosystem services on their land in different ways than purely residential owners.

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How do forest and rangeland owners in California get information about environmental sustainability?

Ferranto, S., L. Huntsinger, C. Getz, W. Stewart, G. Nakamura, and M. Kelly. 2012. Consider the source: The impact of media and authority in outreach to California’s forest and rangeland owners. Journal of Environmental Management 97(1): 131-140.

Over half of the United States is privately owned. Improving environmental sustainability requires that the scientific and management communities provide effective outreach to the many landowners making decisions about land use and management practices on these lands. We surveyed California forest and rangeland owners in ten counties throughout the state to assess the impact of existing outreach and identify gaps in information distribution and content. Although a number of organizations provide land management advice highly-ranked by landowners, no individual organization currently reaches more than 30% of forest and rangeland owners, and these groups together reach less than 60% of landowners.

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Understanding how California's forest and rangeland owners value land

Ferranto, S., L. Huntsinger, C. Getz, G. Nakamura, W. Stewart, S. Drill, Y. Valachovic, M. DeLasaux and M. Kelly. 2012. Forest and rangeland owners value land for natural amenities, and as financial investment. California Agriculture 65(4): 184-191

Forty-two percent of California’s forests and rangelands are privately owned. These lands provide important ecosystem services such as carbon sequestration, wildlife habitat, and pollination services, but little is known about the people who own and manage them. We surveyed forest and rangeland owners in California, and found that these long-time landowners value their properties for their natural amenities and as a financial investment.

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