Economic benefit of wildlife reintroduction: A case of elk hunting in Tennessee, USA.

With growing public interest in ecosystem restoration, wildlife agencies in the U.S. and around the world have adopted wildlife reintroduction program as a conservation strategy. In addition to their ecological benefits, stakeholders are often interested in economic benefits of wildlife reintroduction such as hunting opportunities once a viable population is established. Even though the trip-based travel cost models are widely used in economic valuation of hunting access, such models are not applicable in valuation of sites of recent restoration, where hunting opportunities are limited. With the case of recently completed elk restoration in Tennessee, USA, this study characterizes the economic benefit of hunting opportunity resulting from reintroduction. In doing so, it also presents a procedure to estimate the economic benefit of current use and unmet demand associated with hunting opportunities generated from a wildlife reintroduction program. The annual net economic benefit associated with current use and value of unmet demand is found to be over $2 million. The study also demonstrates the viability of permit-based models in producing reliable estimates of economic benefit of recreation access where demand is lottery-rationed or trip profile data is unavailable.

Determinants of perceived risk and liability concerns associated with prescribed burning in the United States.

While prescribed burning is a proven tool in the management of forests and grasslands, its use has been limited due, in part, to potential risks that may result in legal liability, property damage, and personal injury. The purpose of this study is to understand the factors that shape landowners' and fire professionals' perceptions of risks associated with prescribed burning activities. The data for this study were collected from active prescribed fire professionals involved in Prescribed Burn Association (PBA) activities in 14 Southern and Mid-western states. Perceived risk was higher among respondents with higher levels of concern related to safety and weather but lower among respondents with more experience in burning activities. Sociodemographic variables such as age and income were not significantly correlated with risk perception. These findings are useful for better understanding how landowners and fire professionals perceive risk and offer insight into how perceived risk affects decisions to apply prescribed burns.

Comparing landowner support for wild hog management options in Tennessee.

Wild hogs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive, non-native species quickly gaining ground on private, as well as public, lands in Tennessee and much of the United States. Wildlife management personnel may benefit from assessing stakeholders' views towards various management options to control and eradicate wild hogs. A statewide mail survey of 5000 randomly selected landowners in Tennessee counties known to have wild hogs yielded 1620 completed responses (33% response rate). Using this dataset, an index of potential for conflict among landowner groups was computed for each of eleven management options, which varied from leaving the wild hogs alone, to both lethal and non-lethal options. Results indicate varying levels of potential for conflict depending on hunter status, wild hog hunter status, presence of wild hogs on land, percent of income derived from land, and amount of land damage caused by wild hogs. Overall, three management options including leaving the wild hogs alone, allowing sale of wild hogs, and capturing and relocating were found unacceptable whereas many other options including capturing and killing, providing technical assistance to landowners and educating people on preventing damage were found to have high level of acceptability and most consensus among landowner subgroups. Findings will be useful in understanding how support for wild hog control options vary across population segments, and which options are likely to see more or less resistance from certain landowners.

Adoption of Sustainable Agriculture Practices among Farmers in Kentucky, USA.

Promoting the sustainable agricultural practices at an individual farm level is essential to ensure agricultural sustainability. This study analyzed whether and how various factors related to farm or farmers' characteristics influence the adoption intensity of sustainable agriculture practices. We used a negative binomial regression model to fit the data collected from a mail survey of farmers in Kentucky, USA. Our results showed that the adoption intensity of sustainable agriculture practices varied significantly among agricultural districts in Kentucky. Farmers who grew row crops, had irrigation facilities, and were in favor of crop diversification were significantly more likely than their respective counterparts to adopt more sustainable agriculture practices. Similarly, having a college education and participating in the Tobacco Buyout Program also positively and significantly affected the intensity of adopting sustainable agriculture practices among Kentucky farmers. In contrast, a lack of adequate knowledge about sustainable farming and an unfamiliarity with technology significantly and negatively related to less adoption of sustainable agriculture practices.

Assessing landowners' attitudes toward wild hogs and support for control options.

Wild hogs (Sus scrofa) are an invasive species with destructive habits, particularly rooting and wallowing, which can directly impact agricultural crops, pasture land, and water quality. Considering wild hogs are widely dispersed across the landscape, they are extremely difficult to control. Disagreements can arise among different stakeholders over whether and how their populations should be managed. The purpose of this article was to examine Tennessee, United States landowners' attitudes toward wild hogs, to compare acceptability of control methods, and to evaluate factors significantly influencing public support for regulations to control wild hogs. Logistic regression was employed to analyze data collected from a statewide survey of rural landowners in the fall of 2015. Landowners had overwhelmingly negative attitudes towards wild hogs, and were concerned about their impact on the natural environment and rural economy. Although landowners showed support for controlling wild hogs, levels of acceptability for management options varied. Respondents favored active management and supported education and incentive-based control programs to control wild hogs. Cognitive concepts such as social and personal norms and awareness of consequences, as well as demographic characteristics, significantly predicted landowners' support for state regulations to control wild hogs in Tennessee. Findings increase our understanding of the human dimensions of wild hog management and that of other similarly invasive animals, and may guide resource managers in designing effective and socially acceptable management strategies to control wild hog populations in Tennessee and elsewhere.

Where we stand on chronic wasting disease: A systematic literature review of its prevalence patterns, impacts, and management interventions.

With high fatality and no cure, chronic wasting disease (CWD) has infected cervids in multiple regions, including the United States, Canada, Europe, and South Korea. Despite the rapid growth of literature on CWD, the full scope of its ecological, social, and economic impacts and the most effective and socially acceptable management strategies to mitigate the disease is unclear. Of 3008 initially identified published peer-reviewed papers, 134 were included in a final systematic literature review to synthesize the current knowledge on CWD transmission patterns, impacts, and the effectiveness of management interventions. The number of publications on CWD has increased steadily since 2000 with an average of six papers per year. Most papers were related to CWD prevalence (39 %), human behavior (33 %), CWD impacts (31 %), and management interventions (16 %). Environmental factors such as soil, water, and plants were identified as the most common transmission medium, with a higher prevalence rate among adult male cervids than females. Hunters showed a higher risk perception and were more likely to change hunting behavior due to CWD detection than non-hunters. Ecological impacts included the decreased survival rate accompanied by lower population growth, eventually leading to the decline of cervid populations. Culling was found to be an effective and widely implemented management strategy across countries, although it often was associated with public resistance. Despite potentially high negative economic impacts anticipated due to CWD, studies on this subject were limited. Sustained surveillance, ongoing research, and engagement of affected stakeholders will be essential for future disease control and management.

The potential use of mass timber in mid-to high-rise construction and the associated carbon benefits in the United States.

Nonresidential and mid- to high-rise multifamily residential structures in the United States currently use little wood per unit floor area installed, because earlier building codes lacked provisions for structural wood use in those types of buildings. However, revisions to the International Building Code allow for increased wood use in the form of mass timber, as structural and fire safety concerns have been addressed through new science-based design standards and through newly specified construction materials and measures. This study used multiple models to describe alternative futures for new construction, mass timber adoption rates, and the associated carbon benefits in higher than three-story buildings in the United States. The use of mass timber, in place of traditional constructions (i.e., structures dominated by concrete and steel), in projected new higher than three-story buildings was shown to provide combined carbon benefits (i.e., global warming mitigation benefits), including avoided embodied carbon emissions due to the substitution of non-wood alternatives and additional biogenic carbon storage in mass timber materials, of between 9.9 and 16.5 million t CO2e/yr spanning 50 years, 2020 to 2070. These carbon benefits equate to 12% to 20% of the total U.S. harvested wood products carbon storage for 2020. Future research is needed to understand how greater mass timber adoption leads to changes in forest product markets, land use, and total forest sector carbon.

Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions of Pet Amphibian Owners About Biosecurity Practices.

Global trade has been linked with the emergence of novel pathogens and declines in amphibian populations worldwide. The potential for pathogen transmission within and between collections of captive amphibians and spillover to wild populations makes it important to understand the motivations, knowledge, attitudes and behaviors of pet amphibian owners. We surveyed US pet amphibian owners to understand their characteristics and evaluated whether and how they were associated with behavioral intentions to adopt biosecurity practices. We found that the majority of pet amphibian owners are aware of the threat of emerging pathogens, concerned about potential spillover of pathogens from captive to wild populations and willing to adopt biosecurity practices to mitigate pathogen threats. Intentions to adopt such practices were driven more by psychosocial constructs such as attitudes, perceptions and beliefs than demographic characteristics. Pet amphibian owners also expressed a strong interest in acquiring, and willingness to pay a price premium for, certified disease-free animals. These findings advance our understanding of the characteristics, motivations and behaviors of pet owners, a key stakeholder in global amphibian trade, which could help to inform new policies and outreach strategies to engage them in mitigating pathogen threats. Moreover, our results imply the economic viability of a market-based program to promote pathogen-free, sustainable trade of amphibians.

Locating spatial variation in the association between wildland fire risk and social vulnerability across six Southern states.

Wildland fire in the South commands considerable attention, given the expanding wildland urban interface (WUI) across the region. Much of this growth is propelled by higher income retirees and others desiring natural amenity residential settings. However, population growth in the WUI increases the likelihood of wildfire fire ignition caused by people, as humans account for 93% of all wildfires fires in the South. Coexisting with newly arrived, affluent WUI populations are working class, poor or otherwise socially vulnerable populations. The latter groups typically experience greater losses from environmental disasters such as wildfire because lower income residents are less likely to have established mitigation programs in place to help absorb loss. We use geographically weighted regression to examine spatial variation in the association between social vulnerability (SOVUL) and wildfire risk. In doing so, we identify "hot spots" or geographical clusters where SOVUL varies positively with wildfire risk across six Southern states--Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, and South Carolina. These clusters may or may not be located in the WUI. These hot spots are most prevalent in South Carolina and Florida. Identification of these population clusters can aid wildfire managers in deciding which communities to prioritize for mitigation programming.

Climate change, risk perception, and protection motivation among high-altitude residents of the Mt. Everest region in Nepal.

Mountain ecosystems are considered vulnerable to early impacts of climate change. Whether and how local residents of these areas perceive these changes, however, remain under-studied questions. By conducting a household survey in the Khumbu region of Nepal, this study assessed local residents' experience-based perception of changes in climate trends and patterns, perceived risk, and attitudes towards climate issues. Multivariate cluster analysis based on residents' climate change beliefs revealed three segments: "Cautious," "Disengaged," and "Alarmed." A comparison of these segments along key psychosocial constructs of Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) revealed significant inter-segment differences in residents' perception of severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and response cost associated with engaging in mitigating behavior. Results shed light on how residents of high elevation areas that are considered to be exposed to early impacts of climate change perceive the risk and intend to respond. These findings could also assist stakeholders working in other similar mountain ecosystems in understanding vulnerability and in working towards climate readiness.

Dataset of forest landowner survey to assess interest in supplying woody biomass in two Southeastern United States fuelsheds.

This article presents data from a recent mail survey of forest landowners regarding their land ownership characteristics and motivations, past and future management activities, and owner perceptions of bioenergy and its impact on forests. The data presented in this article are related to the research article entitled 'Opportunities and Attitudes of Private Forest Landowners in Supplying Woody Biomass for Renewable Energy' [1]. The survey was conducted in the Atlantic Coastal Plain of the United States, where two primary ports exporting wood pellets to Europe are located. Specifically, the data include responses on forest characteristics, forest management activities, knowledge and interest in woody biomass for energy production, and sociodemographic variables. Additionally, landowner decisions for supplying wood for traditional forest products and biomass for energy were modeled. More than 2900 forest landowners were contacted, with 707 owners providing completed surveys.

Stakeholder opinions on scientific forest management policy implementation in Nepal.

Despite its widespread recognition as a successful model of participatory forest management, the community forestry program in Nepal is often criticized for its protection-oriented emphasis. Recognizing the need for more active timber management, the government of Nepal recently adopted a scientific forest management (SFM) policy in the lowland tropical region. In this study, strength, weakness, opportunity, and threat analytical hierarchical process criteria were employed to understand stakeholder perceptions concerning SFM implementation in Nepal. The overall perception was prioritized in the order of strengths (35%), threats (28%), opportunities (22%), and weaknesses (16%). The study results suggest that there is agreement among stakeholders regarding the need for active management of forests in the tropical lowland region. However, the perceptions of academic researchers and non-government organization professionals differed from those of the other stakeholders in that those two groups were more concerned about potential corruption and uncertainties surrounding policy and legal issues. The findings suggest that the long-term success of SFM may depend on the ability of the government to develop a mechanism that is transparent and capable of ensuring equitable benefit sharing among stakeholders. While the stakeholder perception analysis performed in this study was focused on SFM implementation in Nepal, the results could have implications for other countries that practice the participatory model of forest governance as well.