|
|
- Info
Fire in the wildland-urban interface in the USA South
| Author: |
Hermansen, A.; Smith, W.H.; Long, A.J. [and others] |
| Date: |
2004 |
| Periodical: |
Forestry serving urbanised societies: Selected papers from the conference. Vienna: International Union of Forest Research Organizations |
| Abstract: |
Population and urbanisation are rapidly expanding in the southern US, increasing human influences on forests that are considered highly productive and essential for supplying future wood and non-timber benefits. Challenges created in the wildland-urban interface relate to changing biodiversity, wildfire protection and mitigation, invasive species movement, and increased forest fragmentation, among others. The South has the fastest population growth in the US with a 13.7 percent increase in population between 1990 and 2000. This growth rate threatens the sustainability)' of Southern forests. In this region, Florida is the most acutely impacted state with a projected population of nearly 25 million by 2020. In 1998 alone, wildfires cost Florida over US$ 600 million in fire suppression, timber and home losses, and business disruption in the urban interface. In response to this situation, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Forest Service, the University of Florida and the Southern Group of State Foresters formed a partnership
to create the Southern Center for Wildland-Urban Interface Research and Information. The Center addresses needs identified in a south-wide assessment of the wildland-urban interface. The critical problem of fire in the interface was chosen to be the first focal point of the Center. A suite of projects is addressing landowner risk assessment, post-fire assessment, structure and flammability of native plants and options for fuel management in the interface. A website (www.urbanforestrysouth.org) was created and a fact sheet series initiated to facilitate technology transfer to end-users. Literature analyses and research designs for generating information for reducing risks in the wildland-urban interface are discussed. |
| View: |
FireWUIUSASouth_proceedings_compressed.pdf
|
|
