Homeowners views on fuel management in Michigans forests A case study in the HuronManistee National

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Homeowners views on fuel management in
Michigans forests A case study in the
Huron-Manistee National Forest

• Christine Vogt
• Assistant Professor
• Dept. of Park, Recreation and Tourism Resources
• Michigan State University
• Vogtc_at_msu.edu
• September 11, 2003

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Presentation Outline

• Overview and objectives of the study
• Key findings
• Application of the findings

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Objectives

• Design and test a survey that measures
  understanding and acceptance of fuel treatments
  at wildland-urban interface
• Three treatment approaches
• Prescribed burning, mechanical treatment,
  defensible space
• National scope, four survey sites
• California, Florida, Michigan, Missouri
• Explore factors upon which acceptance depends
• Construct demographic and geographic models of
  fuel treatment acceptance
• Assess spatial dependence of acceptance and its
  antecedents

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Study Sites

• Tuolumne, Placer,
• El Dorado, CA
• Oak woodland, pine, mixed conifer
• Federal forest
• Frequent wildfire, rare Rx fire

• Marin, CA
• Grass, chaparral, oak,
• Conifer
• High valued homes
• Federal, state lands
• Rare wildfire, non-existentRx fire, intense
  suppression

Yellow Focus Group Red Survey
Blue Both

• Oscoda, Crawford, Ogemaw, MI
• Jack pine
• Many seasonal homes
• Federal, state forest
• Moderately frequent Rx fireand wildfire (Mack
  Lake, River Road)

• Clay, FL
• Pine
• Some seasonal homes
• Private forest ownership
• Frequent wild and Rx fire

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Hypothesized predictors of approval

• Demographic (age, income, health, education)
• Spatial (fuels, house road density, past fires)
• Theory of Reasoned Action
• Beliefs predicting attitude
• Attitude predicting approval
• Other factors..
• Personal experience with fire and fuel treatment
• Trust in agency
• Personal importance of fuel treatments
• Test spatial continuity assess opportunity for
  targeted message

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Forests objectives Healthy Forest Initiative

• The USDA Forest Service has proposed several
  areas needing treatment to reduce the fire hazard
  in the Huron-Manistee National Forest of lower
  Michigan. The project is intended to reduce fire
  threat by removing the small trees that pose the
  greatest risk of spreading fire rapidly.

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Respondents Experiences with Fuel Treatments
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Michigan sample
6.5
6.0
Wildlife
5.5
Restoration
Saves
5.0
Extracts wood
4.5
Fuel treatment
Less smoke
4.0
Defensible
3.5
Belief evaluation (bad to good)
space
Impacts scenery
3.0
Mechanical
2.5
treatment
Out of control fires
2.0
Prescribed
1.5
burning
6.0
5.5
5.0
4.5
4.0
3.5
3.0
Belief strength (unlikely to certain)
10
Attitudes toward fuel reduction approaches
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Percent support, by treatment
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Theoretical Framework for Studying Human
Acceptance of Fuel Reduction

• Selected part of the Theory of Reasoned Action to
  guide and structure our inquiry

Belief Evaluation Outcome Good/bad
Intent to support Acceptance of fuel
treatment Vote for
Attitude toward fuel treatments Positive/negative
Belief Strength Likelihood a fuel treatment will
produce an outcome Very likely/unlikely
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Conceptual model, prescribed burning
Personal importance of prescribed burning
B .34, .41, .27
Impacts scenery
B .08, .02, .02
More smoke now, less later
B .07, .01, .02
Prescribed Burning attitude
B .67, .70, .63
Reduces cost of fire fighting
B .17, .20, .25
Prescribed burning approval
R2 .51, .37, .47
Restores wildlands
B .05, .09, .09
R2 .64, .53, .65
Improves wildlife conditions
B .14, .00, .13
Note Beta coefficient (B) in the order CA, FL,
MI Boldface type statistically significant p.05
Allows uncontrolled fires
B -.21,-.17,-.26
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Other Fuel Treatments - Consistently predictive
factors

• Mechanical treatment
• Cost effectiveness
• Impacts scenery (negative)
• Personal importance of mechanical treatment
• Trust
• Defensible space
• Cost effectiveness
• Impacts scenery (negative)
• Personal importance of defensible
• space
• Trust

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Trust Findings
Scale where 1 is strongly disagree 7
strongly agree
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Agency trust referent
Multiple answers allowed.
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Demographics dont predict acceptance

• Education
• Gender
• Household size
• Employment status
• Tenure
• Income
• Residential status
• Respiratory ailment status

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Acceptance

• Personally, one of the reasons I live where I
  live is because I like the trees and I like the
  vegetation that is around my house. If I had to
  clear all that out of there, what would be the
  sense of living there? I might as well live in
  the city, and thats why I pay insurance.

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Outcome Beliefs Cost

• think of clearing 40 acres with machines or by
  hand or whatever, getting all that brush out of
  there. Youre talking about a lot of money

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Effectiveness of Fuels Management1998 Fuel Break
Fire

• 69 acres in size
• Fire contained in 3 hours.
• Running crown fire in young jack pine that
  dropped to the ground when reaching the fuel
  break.
• Fuel break credited for saving homes along Grass
  Lake Road.

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Healthy Forest InitiativeHuron-Manistee National
ForestFuels Reduction Projects 2003
Proposed Actions

• Oscoda Area Fuel Breaks - HFI
• Create 132 acres of additional fuel breaks
• Maintenance of existing fuel breaks

• Sand Lake Fuels II
• Create 192 acres of new fuel break

• Red Keg Additional
• Create 70 acres of additional fuel break

• Pine River Fuel Break
• Create 30 acres of additional fuel break
• Improve 291 acres of existing fuel break

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Implications

• Find the balance of residential acceptance and
  environmental health
• Combine social science research, including public
  engagement, and the biological sciences,
  including forestry
• Understand the fuel reduction tools to reduce
  risks
• Find role for agency outreach programs
• Continue to make public aware and educated on the
  impacts of their actions

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Michigan Study Sites

• Oscoda, Crawford, Ogemaw, MI
• Jack pine
• Many seasonal homes
• Federal, state forest
• Moderately frequent Rx fireand wildfire

Red Survey Blue Focus groups, Survey