Research on community forests, primarily governed and managed by local forest users, in the United States is limited, despite their growth in numbers over the past decade. We conducted a survey to inventory CFs in the U.S., and better understand their ownership and governance structures, management objectives, benefits, and financing....
The practice of modern silviculture on U.S. public lands has been stymied by a legacy of litigation and policy changes since the late 20th century. Forestry in the 1980s was focused on physical science strategies and failed to consider the social complexities of multi-use forest management. Emblematic of the challenges...
Through researching CBOs across Washington, Oregon, Northern California, and British Columbia, it is evident that there are need gaps in the organizational capacity in CBOs and other environmental groups for outreach and communication support to collaborate. A dedicated online space where environmental organizations and other conservation-focused groups can share their...
Wildfire risk in temperate forests has become a nearly intractable problem that can be characterized as a socioecological “pathology”: that is, a set of complex and problematic interactions among social and ecological systems across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Assessments of wildfire risk could benefit from recognizing and accounting for...
Understanding the local context that shapes collective response to wildfire risk continues to be a challenge for scientists and policymakers. This study utilizes and expands on a conceptual approach for understanding adaptive capacity to wildfire in a comparison of 18 past case studies. The intent is to determine whether comparison...
Disasters result from hazards affecting vulnerable people. Most disasters research by anthropologists focuses on vulnerability; this article focuses on natural hazards. We use the case of wildfire mitigation on United States Forest Service lands in the northwestern United States to examine social, political, and economic variables at multiple scales that...
The development of a market for currently non-merchantable forest material, such as harvest residues of tops and limbs of trees or small diameter trees, has been suggested as a possible win-win solution that could: (i) provide a financial incentive to help motivate treatments to reduce wildfire risk or restore forest...
Wildfires are increasing in severity and frequency in the American West, but there is limited understanding of their economic effects at the community level. We conducted a case study of the impacts of large wildfires in 2008 in Trinity County, California, by examining labor market, suppression spending, and qualitative interview...
In a society where equality is sought as the norm, occupational gender representation is still skewed in some disciplines. One field where gender equality in representation has not yet been achieved is engineering, whether in college or at the professional level. This imbalance is not only a potentially vicious cycle...
Ecologically sound practices often cost landowners more than less environmentally friendly tactics. However, some consumers are willing to pay more for the assurance of production practices they value. Third-party certification is a way to acknowledge sustainable production practices beyond what is required by law.
The market for such products is...