http://hdl.handle.net/1957/28892 Wed, 19 Jun 2013 08:13:19 GMT 2013-06-19T08:13:19Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/38690 Human and biophysical influences on fire occurrence in the United States Hawbaker, Todd J.; Radeloff, Volker C.; Stewart, Susan I.; Hammer, Rober B.; Keuler, Nicholas S.; Clayton, Murray K. National-scale analyses of fire occurrence are needed to prioritize fire policy and management activities across the United States. However, the drivers of national-scale patterns of fire occurrence are not well understood, and how the relative importance of human or biophysical factors varies across the country is unclear. Our research goal was to model the drivers of fire occurrence within ecoregions across the conterminous United States. We used generalized linear models to compare the relative influence of human, vegetation, climate, and topographic variables on fire occurrence in the United States, as measured by MODIS active fire detections collected between 2000 and 2006. We constructed models for all fires and for large fires only and generated predictive maps to quantify fire occurrence probabilities. Areas with high fire occurrence probabilities were widespread in the Southeast, and localized in the Mountain West, particularly in southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Probabilities for large-fire occurrence were generally lower, but hot spots existed in the western and southcentral United States The probability of fire occurrence is a critical component of fire risk assessments, in addition to vegetation type, fire behavior, and the values at risk. Many of the hot spots we identified have extensive development in the wildland–urban interface and are near large metropolitan areas. Our results demonstrated that human variables were important predictors of both all fires and large fires and frequently exhibited nonlinear relationships. However, vegetation, climate, and topography were also significant variables in most ecoregions. If recent housing growth trends and fire occurrence patterns continue, these areas will continue to challenge policies and management efforts seeking to balance the risks generated by wildfires with the ecological benefits of fire. To the best of our knowledge, one or more authors of this paper were federal employees when contributing to this work. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by Ecological Society of America and can be found at: http://esa.org/. Mon, 01 Apr 2013 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/38690 2013-04-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/37335 To Act or Not to Act: Context, Capability, and Community Response to Environmental Risk Wright, Rachel A.; Boudet, Hilary Schaffer Social movement theory has rarely been tested with counterfactual cases, that is, instances in which movements do not emerge. Moreover, contemporary theories about political opportunity and resources often inadequately address the issue of motivation. To address these shortcomings, this article examines 20 communities that are "at risk" for mobilization because they face controversial proposals for large energy infrastructure projects. Movements emerge in only 10 cases, allowing for the identification of factors that drive mobilization or nonmobilization. Utilizing insights from social psychology, the authors contend that community context shapes motivations to oppose or accept a proposal, not objective measures of threat. They conclude that the combination of community context-to understand motivation-and measures of capability is the best way to model movement emergence. This is the publisher’s final pdf. The published article is copyrighted by [publisher] and can be found at: http://www.press.uchicago.edu/index.html. Thu, 01 Nov 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/37335 2012-11-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/36328 Food Insecurity in Western US States: Increasing Collaboration between State Agencies and Nonprofit Organizations Edwards, Mark Evan This analysis examines how and why many nonprofits and state agencies fighting domestic hunger have increasingly collaborated in unexpected ways. Interviews with nonprofit and state agency leaders in four western US states provide details about these collaborative efforts. Drawing on the concept of collaborative governance, the findings reveal important roles that anti-hunger nonprofits have played for state agencies, serving as experts, co-workers and catalysts for even more collaboration, rather than serving primarily as lobbyists, subcontractors and generic stakeholders. The opportunity for this kind of intimate collaboration emerged from a combination of political and economic developments that changed the incentives for nonprofits and state agencies to work together. The study uses empirical evidence to justify an expansive definition of collaborative governance while also suggesting implications for effective public management in the fight against domestic hunger. This is the author's peer-reviewed final manuscript, as accepted by the publisher. The published article is copyrighted by Berg Publishers and can be found at: http://www.bergpublishers.com/BergJournals/FoodCultureandSociety/tabid/521/Default.aspx. Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/36328 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29111 Spatial and temporal drivers of wildfire occurrence in the context of rural development in northern Wisconsin, USA Miranda, Brian R.; Sturtevant, Brian R.; Stewart, Susan I.; Hammer, Roger B. Most drivers underlying wildfire are dynamic, but at different spatial and temporal scales. We quantified temporal and spatial trends in wildfire patterns over two spatial extents in northern Wisconsin to identify drivers and their change through time. We used spatial point pattern analysis to quantify the spatial pattern of wildfire occurrences, and linear regression to quantify the influence of drought and temporal trends in annual number and mean size of wildfires. Analyses confirmed drought as an important driver of both occurrences and fire size. When both drought and time were incorporated in linear regression models, the number of wildfires showed a declining trend across the full study area, despite housing density increasing in magnitude and spatial extent. Fires caused by campfires and debris-burning did not show any temporal trends. Comparison of spatial models representing biophysical, anthropogenic and combined factors demonstrated human influences on wildfire occurrences, especially human activity, infrastructure and property values. We also identified a non-linear relationship between housing density and wildfire occurrence. Large wildfire occurrence was predicted by similar variables to all occurrences, except the direction of influence changed. Understanding these spatial and temporal drivers of wildfire occurrence has implications for land-use planning, wildfire suppression strategies and ecological goals Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:00:00 GMT http://hdl.handle.net/1957/29111 2012-03-01T00:00:00Z