Logo image
Back
Social values for forest environmental services at risk from wildfire in northwestern Montana, USA
Conference presentation   Peer reviewed

Social values for forest environmental services at risk from wildfire in northwestern Montana, USA

D O'Donnell, Tyron J Venn and D Calkin
IUFRO World Congress, 2010 (Seoul, Korea, 23-Sep-2010–28-Sep-2010)
International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)
2010
url
http://www.iufro.org/events/congresses/2010/View
Webpage

Abstract

Forestry Sciences
Current United States federal wildland fi re management policy requires fi re management priorities to be set on the basis of values to be protected (including non-market values); however, there is limited information about the value society places on forest environmental services at risk. The Forest Service continues to give defacto priority to protecting private property. This paper reports the findings of a choice modeling non-market valuation survey that inquired about wildfire management preferences of residents of Flathead County, Montana. Management strategies were defined in terms of cost; number of homes evacuated per annum; area of timberland burned per annum; and annual effects of wildfire on recreation opportunities, air quality, and ecosystem health. The marginal willingness of an average household to pay for one less home evacuation per annum was $0.28, compared with $13.36 for a one-day reduction in the number of unhealthy smoke days per annum and $1.90 for a one percentage point reduction in the annual probability that recreation opportunities will be affected by wildfire. These findings suggest the focus of wildfire managers on structure protection is not efficient in Flathead County, and social benefits could be enhanced by redirecting wildfire management resources to the protection of forest environmental services.

Details

Metrics

243 Record Views
Logo image