Different interest group views of fuels treatments: survey results from fire and fire surrogate treatments in a Sierran mixed conifer forest, California, USA
Sarah McCaffrey A C , Jason J. Moghaddas B and Scott L. Stephens BA USDA Forest Service, Northern Research Station, 1033 University Place, Ste 360, Evanston, IL 60201, USA.
B Division of Ecosystem Science, Department of Environmental Science, Policy, and Management, 137 Mulford Hall, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720-3114, USA.
C Corresponding author. Email: smccaffrey@fs.fed.us
International Journal of Wildland Fire 17(2) 224-233 https://doi.org/10.1071/WF07005
Submitted: 9 January 2007 Accepted: 30 August 2007 Published: 17 April 2008
Abstract
The present paper discusses results from a survey about the acceptance of and preferences for fuels treatments of participants following a field tour of the University of California Blodgett Forest Fire and Fire Surrogate Study Site. Although original expectations were that tours would be composed of general members of the public, individual tour groups ultimately were much more specialised, with tours made up of individuals from five distinct groups including foresters, environmentalists, entomologists, the Natural Resource Conservation Service, teachers, and high school or undergraduate students. This proved fortuitous as most studies of ‘public’ perceptions to date have been of general members of the public and little work has been done assessing the views of groups who may have more specific knowledge or interest in fuels treatments. Such assessment is perhaps long overdue given the importance of understanding characteristics of different audience segments in developing effective outreach programs. Analysis showed that group membership was in fact the key element in differences in survey responses with significant differences found between groups on overall acceptability of treatments, treatment preferences based on different land ownership and management types, and which variables were most important in determining treatment preferences.
Additional keywords: attitudes, group differences, Sierra Nevada, social acceptability, social construction.
Acknowledgements
The present project was funded by the USDA–USDI Joint Fire Sciences Program and University of California Experiment Station funds and was supported by the USDA Forest Service Northern Research Station. This is Publication Number 140 of the National Fire and Fire Surrogate Project. We thank Blodgett Forest Research Station for their continued support of the Fire and Fire Surrogate Study. We also thank survey participants for sharing their opinions with us.
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A The mechanical plus fire treatment was found most effective in reducing potential fire behaviour and effects followed by the fire-only and mechanical-only treatments. The control or no treatment did nothing to mitigate existing fire hazards (Stephens and Moghaddas 2005).
