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Project ID: 10-3-01-33

Year: 2010

Date Started: 07/01/2010

Date Completed: 06/29/2012

Title: Wildland Fire Suppression and Land Development in the Wildland/Urban Interface

Project Proposal Abstract: This project will test the hypothesis that public fire suppression in forested areas increases the fraction of developed land in these areas, drawing people and structures into the wildland/urban interface. To test this hypothesis, we will construct statistical models that analyze U.S. land-cover trends as a function of fire suppression policies and expenditures, controlling for other factors. Fire suppression may act as a subsidy, tipping land use in favor of residential and commercial development. Land owners do not bear the full cost of their choice to build on land in fire-prone areas, since they do not pay for suppression, though they reap all of the benefits of development, resulting in inefficient levels of development. U.S. land in developed uses is expected to continue to increase over the next three decades, with the largest fraction converted from forests. Identifying the potential role of fire suppression policy in this process is a critical endeavor. In addition, U.S. fire suppression expenditures have increased rapidly since 1970. Natural and social science research has identified some contributors to this trend, including increases in large fire incidence due to climate change and the effects of decades of suppression on the accumulation of fuel. When combined with the known effects of climate change and fuel buildup, the effects induced land development from suppression, itself, may also play an important role.

Principal Investigator: Sheila M. Olmstead

Agency/Organization: Resources for the Future

Branch or Dept:

Other Project Collaborators

Type	Name	Agency/Organization	Branch or Dept
Co-Principal Investigator	Carolyn M. Kousky	Resources for the Future
Co-Principal Investigator	Roger A. Sedjo	Resources for the Future
Federal Cooperator	Krista M. Gebert	Forest Service	RMRS-Intermountain Fire Sciences Lab
Federal Fiscal Representative	Susan T. Major	Forest Service	RMRS-Rocky Mountain Research Station

Project Locations

Consortium

Alaska

Appalachian

California

Great Basin

Great Plains

Lake States

Oak Woodlands

Northern Rockies

Northwest

Pacific

South

Southern Rockies

Southwest

Tallgrass

Level	State	Agency	Unit
NATIONAL		FS

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
	9872	NonRefereed Publication	Induced Development in Risky Locations: Fire Suppression and Land Development in the American West
	9874	Book or Book Chapter	In Harm’s Way: Homeowner Behavior and Wildland Fire Policy

Supporting Documents

There are no supporting documents available for this project.

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