Download this report as a pdf (92K) Understanding Community Response to Fuels Management Following the 2002 Tornadoes: A Mark Twain National Forest Case Study Investigators: Christine Vogt, Research Investigator, Assistant Professor, Michigan State University Gregory Winter, Director, Cornerstone Strategies, Bellingham, WA Sarah McCaffrey, Research Social Scientist, USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station, Evanston, IL 60201 Sponsored by the USDA Forest Service North Central Research Station's Natural Environments for Urban Populations Research Work Unit Overview This one-year project is designed to provide land managers in the Mark Twain National Forest with an assessment of public acceptance and understanding of recent fuel treatments at the wildland-urban interface (WUI). The project will use a refined and modified version of a questionnaire used recently to survey WUI residents in Michigan, Florida, and California. The project will examine residents' trust in local, state, and federal agencies as well as their understanding and acceptance of fuel treatment practices. Meetings with forest managers and focus groups with residents (i.e. home owners, large land owners such as farmers, renters) in the region will provide the basis for developing a mail survey questionnaire and analysis protocol. Background On April 24, 2002, in southeast Missouri, two powerful tornados knocked trees down across 10,000 acres of private and national forest land in the vicinity of the Poplar Bluff and Potosi-Fredricktown Ranger Districts of the Mark Twain National Forest. In addition to the private property damage, including the total destruction of more than 150 homes, the blowdowns left forest fuel accumulations up to 25 times greater than pre-storm levels. Following the storms, the Forest proposed several emergency fuel reduction actions to address the heightened wildfire threat. Actions included tree removal, piling and burning of dead trees and limbs, prescribed burning following fuel reduction, and chipping on site. Following an expedited environmental review, the Forest implemented the emergency fuel reduction project designed to reduce the threat of wildfire. Fuel reduction began sooner than the planning process typically calls for, which may have residents relieved that the fire hazards would be reduced or angered that a "full" public comment period was not enforced. Prescribed fire, and mechanical treatment have been widely touted as promising alternatives capable of effectively reducing fuel accumulations, and thus the intensity and spread potential of future wildfires. But the sometimes complex impacts and rationales of prescribed fire and mechanical treatment alternatives are often poorly understood by WUI residents. This often translates to lack of acceptance of the fuel treatment approaches preferred by forest managers. Prescribed fire and mechanical treatments may be more feasible if their use is preceded by targeted information programs designed to match the public's knowledge and understanding of fire processes and management at the wildland-urban interface. Developing such information programs calls for intensive study of residents and fire managers in WUI areas, and the formulation of generalizable models that include human perspectives and can be applied to restore ecosystem health at the wildland-urban interface. Our Research Process and Guiding Questions In July and August of 2003, we will conduct several resident and manager focus group interviews to investigate and document the range of perspectives, concepts and lexicon for discussing fire management and fuel treatment among residents in the vicinity of the Poplar Bluff and Potosi-Fredricktown Ranger Districts. Information from the focus groups will be used to modify the survey questionnaire developed during a previous, related study. The modifications will ensure that the questionnaire and resulting data are relevant to local conditions and useful to local forest managers. Then, the questionnaire will be mailed to a representative sample of residents in the WUI areas and population centers in the vicinity of the Poplar Bluff and Potosi-Fredricktown Ranger Districts. Research issues and questions include: Validating results from previous research in other locales that trust in an agency (local, state, or federal) carrying out a fuel reduction program predicts fuel treatment acceptance. How important was the post-tornado fuels management response to residents and to what extent were they personally committed and involved in this activity (around their homes and in the forest)? Investigating and identifying the factors which contribute to defining the level of personal importance or relevance of a fuel treatment to local residents. Testing of demographic factors (including type of residency and land ownership variables) predicting fuel treatment acceptance. Outcomes Managers in the Mark Twain National Forest will have data to better understand the position of residents in the wildland-urban interface. The knowledge gained from this proposed research could lead to: Increased social acceptability of appropriate fuel treatments by public land managers and private property owners, Improved methods of communication and public participation regarding natural resource management, Increased levels of trust between public land managers and publics, Reduced risk of catastrophic forest fires, and Greater understanding of publics' views of forest fire and fire management. For additional information, please contact: Greg Winter gregw@pacificrim.net 360-676-4600 Christine Vogt vogtc@msu.edu 517-353-0793 x128 Sarah McCaffrey smccaffrey@fs.fed.us 847-866-9311 x20 Home -- Study Sites -- Investigators Research Projects -- Publications -- Presentations -- Tool kit -- Related Links