Issues in Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Fuel Treatments to Reduce Wildfire in the Nation's Forests

Download or read book Issues in Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Fuel Treatments to Reduce Wildfire in the Nation's Forests written by Jeffrey D. Kline and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2011-04 with total page 48 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Years of fire suppression and increasing constraints on natural and prescribed burning, possibly along with climate change, have altered historical wildfire regimes resulting in increased wildfire severity in the Nation's forests. The growing wildfire threat has motivated increasing interest in reducing hazardous fuels through prescribed burning, thinning, and harvesting. There is debate about whether such fuel treatments are necessary owing to the complexity of the wildfire issue and to general disagreement about whether long-term wildfire impacts present a real problem. This report presents one way of conceptualizing the costs and benefits of fuel treatments and wildfire and reviews issues related to their evaluation. Illustrations. This is a print on demand report.