Department of Landscape Architecture, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, 16802, USA.
National Park Service, Intermountain Region, Logan, UT, 84321, USA.
J Environ Manage. 2022 Nov 15;322:116100. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116100. Epub 2022 Sep 1.
Firescapes of the Mid-Atlantic are understudied compared to other ecosystems in the United States, and little is known about the acceptance of prescribed fire as a forest management tool. Yet, this region harbors high levels of wildland-urban interface (WUI), has a close intermingling of land ownerships, and reflects substantial regional heterogeneity in burning histories and fire hazards. As prescribed fire is increasingly applied in the Mid-Atlantic as a critical tool to meet various land management objectives, research is needed to help managers understand community perceptions of prescribed fire implementation. Through intercept surveys of forest recreationists and online surveys of fire managers, this study investigates perceptions about prescribed fire use in the Mid-Atlantic, in addition to the critical contributing factors of public support toward prescribed fires. Two states, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, were selected as case studies to explore regional differences in social perception due to their contrasts in fire history, policy, management objectives, and social exposure. Our results show moderate social awareness of local prescribed fires, moderate to high familiarity with prescribed burning, high agency trust, and strong community support toward prescribed fires. However, the perceived concerns and benefits differed between managers and forest recreationists and between recreationists from Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The factors influencing the support of prescribed burning practices included forest management beliefs, concern about prescribed fire effects, familiarity with prescribed fires as a forest management tool, and awareness of local prescribed fires. Collectively, these results highlighted needs in public outreach to strengthen education, build broader community awareness, engage critical stakeholder groups such as forest recreationists, and re-align public outreach messages based on community-level concerns and perceived benefits. Additionally, it will be vital for the scientific community to help monitor critical shifts in forest value orientations and fill in significant research gaps regarding prescribed fire benefits.
与美国其他生态系统相比，大西洋中部的火灾景观研究较少，人们对将规定性火烧作为森林管理工具的接受程度知之甚少。然而，该地区拥有高度的荒地-城市交界带（WUI），土地所有权紧密交织，并且在燃烧历史和火灾危险方面存在显著的区域异质性。随着规定性火烧作为满足各种土地管理目标的重要工具在大西洋中部地区的应用日益增加，需要进行研究以帮助管理人员了解社区对规定性火烧实施的看法。本研究通过对森林娱乐者的拦截调查和对消防管理人员的在线调查，调查了对大西洋中部地区规定性火烧使用的看法，以及公众对规定性火烧的支持的关键促成因素。选择宾夕法尼亚州和新泽西州作为案例研究，以探索由于火灾历史、政策、管理目标和社会暴露方面的差异而导致的社会认知区域差异。我们的研究结果表明，对当地规定性火灾有一定的社会意识，对规定性燃烧有中等至高的熟悉度，对机构有高度的信任，对规定性火灾有强烈的社区支持。然而，管理者和森林娱乐者之间以及宾夕法尼亚州和新泽西州的娱乐者之间对感知到的关注和好处存在差异。影响规定性燃烧实践支持的因素包括森林管理信念、对规定性火灾影响的关注、对规定性火灾作为森林管理工具的熟悉程度以及对当地规定性火灾的认识。总的来说，这些结果突出了在公众宣传方面的需求，以加强教育、提高更广泛的社区意识、让关键利益相关者群体（如森林娱乐者）参与进来，并根据社区层面的关注和感知到的好处调整公众宣传信息。此外，科学界必须帮助监测森林价值取向的关键转变，并填补关于规定性火灾好处的重要研究空白。
