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Project ID: 09-1-10-3

Year: 2009

Date Started: 10/01/2009

Date Completed: 12/31/2012

Title: Economic Effects of Large Wildfires from 2008

Project Proposal Abstract: Large wildland fires can disrupt communities located near the fires and have lasting socioeconomic consequences. This project will help land managers and policy makers better understand, anticipate, and plan for the local economic effects of wildfires. Our goal is to provide information to decision-makers that will assist them in making management and policy decisions that support local economies by minimizing the negative economic effects of wildfire. We posit that wildland fires may affect local economies through two pathways: direct negative effects from reduced economic activity (e.g., resource management, tourism, and supporting industries) and direct positive effects from economic activity generated through fire suppression contracting. Wildfires may also result in future local economic benefits from recovery and economic development efforts such as biomass utilization from fire hazard reduction projects. However, local economies only experience direct positive effects if fire suppression contracting is awarded locally and future benefits are only possible if the fire stimulates, rather than stops, economic development efforts associated with recovery or prevention of future fires. We will ask three main questions: 1) What are the effects of large wildland fires on local economies?, 2) How does fire suppression contracting mediate those effects?, and 3) How do large wildland fires affect local economic development efforts, especially those associated with biomass utilization associated with fire hazard reduction? This proposal is being developed in response to the 2009 RFA Task Statement J, which focuses on re-measurement of conditions before and after large fires that occurred in 2008. We will answer these interconnected research questions using both quantitative and qualitative data that considers economic and social conditions before and after wildfires in a subset of continental US counties in which large wildfires burned in 2008. We will used a mixed methods approach relying on econometric panel analysis of the impacts of large fires on county level labor markets and a case study analysis of Trinity County, California. The case study analysis will reassess the bridges and barriers to biomass utilization efforts following large fires in the County in the summer of 2008. A related JFSP study assessed the bridges and barriers to biomass utilization in Trinity County prior to the fires in the Spring of 2008. We will use our findings to help educate policy makers, land mangers, community organizations, and wildfire scholars through a strategic outreach effort focused on the local economic effects of existing national fire policy and management. Outreach will occur through strategic dissemination that includes full technical reports for managers, policy makers, and other stakeholders; briefing papers and presentations targeted to key stakeholders; a website describing the project rationale, data sources, and key findings; and peer reviewed articles and presentations for scholarly audiences.

Principal Investigator: Cassandra Moseley

Agency/Organization: University of Oregon

Branch or Dept: Institute for a Sustainable Environment

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Krista M. Gebert	Forest Service	RMRS-Intermountain Fire Sciences Lab
Co-Principal Investigator	Laura Leete	University of Oregon	Department of Planning, Public Policy & Management
Co-Principal Investigator	Kathy Lynn	University of Oregon	Resource Innovations
Co-Principal Investigator	Max W Nielsen Pincus	University of Oregon	Institute for a Sustainable Environment
Federal Cooperator	Pamela J. Jakes	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station
Federal Fiscal Representative	David G Garrison	Forest Service	NRS-Northern Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

California

Level	State	Agency	Unit
STATE	CA	FS	Shasta-Trinity National Forest

Project Deliverables

Final Report ("Results presented in JFSP Final Reports may not have been peer-reviewed and should be interpreted as tentative until published in a peer-reviewed source.")

	ID	Type	Title
	10269	NonRefereed Publication	Reports Show Few Local Economic Benefits from 2008 Fires
	9444	NonRefereed Publication	The Lost Summer: Community Experiences of Large Wildfires in Trinity County, California
	9445	NonRefereed Publication	Fire Suppression Costs and Impacts of the 2008 Wildfires in Trinity County, California
	10160	NonRefereed Publication	Forest Service Spending on Large Wildfires in the West
	10156	NonRefereed Publication	The Effect of Large Wildfires on Local Labor Markets
	10157	NonRefereed Publication	Economic Effects of Large Fires: Application to the Cold Springs Fire
	10158	NonRefereed Publication	Forest Service Spending on Large Wildfires in the West
	10231	NonRefereed Publication	Wildfire Suppression Contracting: The Effect of Local Business Capacity During Large Wildfires
	10232	NonRefereed Publication	The Economic Effects of Large Wildfires: Main Findings
	10233	NonRefereed Publication	The Effect of Large Wildfires on Local Labor Markets
	10234	NonRefereed Publication	Wildfire Suppression Contracting: The Effect of Local Business Capacity During Large Wildfires
	10235	NonRefereed Publication	The Economic Impacts of Large Wildfires: Rural Connections Article
	10240	NonRefereed Publication	Large Wildfire Expenses: Breakdown by State Recipients
	10244	Invited Paper/Presentation	Economic Impacts of Large Fires in Local Communities
	9990	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Community Business Capacity to Participate in Wildland Fire Operations
	9984	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	The Effect of Large Wildfires on Local Labor Markets
	9986	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	The Effect of Large Wildfires on Local Labor Markets
	9987	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	The Economic Impacts of Large Wildfires: A Mixed Methods Perspective from Trinity County, California
	10236	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	Local Economic Effects of Large Wildfires
	9989	Conference/Symposia/Workshop	The Economic Impacts of Large Wildfires
	10249	Photo	Three Sisters After Pole Creek Fire
	10248	Photo	Wildfire Smoke Over Community
	10247	Photo	Incident Base
	10246	Photo	Pole Creek
	10245	Photo	Cascade Peak

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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