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Us and Them Examining the Cultural Perceptions of Private and Interagency Wildland Firefighters
No full textWildfires in the western United States have drastically increased in frequency, intensity, emotional and economic cost. As this trend continues, agencies are increasingly reliant on private contractors to supplement suppression resource demand during critical fire seasons. Cooperating private resources provide a surge in equipment and personnel when interagency resources are committed or unavailable for assignment. Using anonymous self-survey methodology through social media, comparative online questionnaires were created to examine interagency personnel (n=655) and private contractors (n=177). Data collected from this study provided an introduction towards understanding the work-relationship. However, this has proven complex as study results concluded: 88 percent of contractors (n=161) and 76 percent of interagency personnel (n=595) believed a negative work culture existed between contractors and interagency personnel. The strain on this relationship has resulted in the development of an organizational rivalry. Rivalries have beneficial qualities leading to increased production, confidence, and inter-crew cohesion. However, when negative, the opposite is true leading to potential impacts of the health and safety of wildland firefighters. In order to better understand this rivalry and resolve potential conflicts, future research with variant methods is required to develop a basis of a constructive dialogue to aid in the resolution of this dynamic.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
Evaluation of Contributing Factors to Wildland Firefighter Fatalities in the United States
No full textWildland firefighter fatalities are not caused by one single factor. Catastrophic fires are on the rise, civilian and firefighter deaths are on the rise, particularly volunteer firefighters. The WUI is growing at a faster pace than ever recorded and suppression and economic costs are skyrocketing. There is not one contributing factor, thus there is not one solution. Also, a solution is not a one time occurrence. We must become adaptively resilient, living with fire on the landscape. We cannot extirpate wildfire, however we can learn to use it to our benefit through the use of increased prescribed fire to reduce fuel loading from dead and down woody debris, also reducing insect populations and the spread of diseases. We need to acknowledge the commitment and sacrifice wildland firefighters make in an effort to save our livelihoods. Livelihoods many of us have chosen to build in well documented fire prone areas. Better surveillance systems are needed to track statistics and implement better strategies and technologies. A universal human resource program with standardized job titles, a well-defined career path designed for retention and promotion and health and wellness programs is needed. The data surrounding the effects of poor nutrition, inconsistent fitness programs, insufficient sleep, and arduous working conditions points to a long term effect on today’s firefighters. Wildland firefighting is becoming increasingly dangerous and overly demanding resulting in an alarming rate of suicide. There is no top-down or bottom-up approach to this issue. As a society, through poor management decisions, poor policy making, and insufficient knowledge on the environment we are living in, we have created our own worst case scenario, a ticking time bomb, that’s showing itself through statistics. It will take each and every one of us at every level to collaborate, and implement innovative and adaptive solutions.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-1
Characterizing and Ranking the Importance of Fire Refugia in the Northwestern US
No full textFire refugia are ecologically important features on the landscape. Fire refugia are becoming an increasingly popular topic in the discussion of how to improve forest resiliency in the face of shifting fire regimes. Presently, land managers have not been able to utilize fire refugia in their management plans largely due to the challenges associated with locating and prioritizing them. In this thesis, I aimed to address these knowledge gaps by identifying and characterizing high-value fire refugia in the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Using an existing database of unburned islands from 1984 to 2014, I identified fire refugia that remain unburned over multiple fires. I sampled points in both these persistent fire refugia and in areas burned by wildfire. At these sample points in both persistent fire refugia and in areas burned by wildfire, I compared several topographical and other geospatial metrics of these groups. The analysis revealed that the biophysical setting underlying persistent unburned islands differs between forests and rangelands, and differs from burned areas. I then investigated the perceived importance of criteria used to identify high-value fire refugia by surveying land managers within the US Pacific Northwest. Participants scored a predetermined list of criteria by their importance for determining the value of fire refugia. The results indicate that respondents generally organized criteria into two groups: human infrastructure and wildlife habitat. However, there was little consensus among respondents in their scoring of fire refugia importance criteria, suggesting that a single fire refugia ranking model for the entire region is not feasible. More targeted approaches that reduce the scale or scope of the ranking model are required. Finally, I developed a reduced-scope fire refugia importance ranking model for the northern spotted owl (Strix occidentalis caurina) using a multi-criteria decision analysis framework. I then applied the model to four fires in the East Cascades and compared the patch shape, topography, and forest structure of high importance fire refugia and low importance fire refugia. The research shows that higher ranked refugia tended to have structures that were more characteristic of later successional stage forests than lower ranked refugia. This thesis provides the basis for the identification of high-value fire refugia, potentially allowing land managers to prioritize high-value fire refugia for restoration activates after a fire. Further research is needed to improve their applicability of reduced-scope and reduced-scale fire refugia ranking models to land management.masters, M.S., Natural Resources -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
Effect of Irrigation on Fiber Concentration and In-Vitro Fiber Digestibility of Corn Plant Tissues
No full textThe objective of this study was to determine the effect of irrigation on neutral detergent fiber (NDF) and lignin (LIG) concentrations and on in-vitro apparent dry matter digestibility (IVDMD), and in vitro neutral detergent fiber digestibility (IVNDFD) of stems, leaf-sheaths, and leaf-blades of corn. Five commercial corn hybrids for silage (one of them showing the brown midrib phenotype) were planted in a split-plot setting within a randomized complete block design (4 replicates). Treatments consisted of a control treatment with furrow irrigation at planting and 3 more times during crop growth (IRRIGATED) and a non-irrigated treatment with furrow irrigation only at planting (NON-IRRIGATED). When the corn was between ¼ and ¾ milk-line stage of maturity, 5 plants from each plot were cut by hand, and stems, leaf-sheaths, and leaf-blades from the second phytomer below (LOWER) and the second phytomer above (UPPER) the ear insertion were dissected and frozen for analysis. Tissues were analyzed for NDF concentration, IVDMD, and IVNDFD. Data were analyzed using Proc Mixed of SAS, and the model included the effects of block (random, df = 3), treatment (fixed, df = 1), whole-plot error (random, df = 3), hybrid (fixed, df = 4), treatment by hybrid interaction (fixed, df = 4), and the residual or split-plot error (random, df = 25). IRRIGATED contained lower NDF concentrations (P 0.1)56, which averaged 19.9%. UPPER phytomers had a lower NDF concentration (P < 0.01; 64.4 vs. 67.7%) and a greater IVNDFD than LOWER phytomers (P < 0.01; 52.8 vs. 49.0%). In conclusion, under the conditions of this study, limited water supply does not affect lignin concentration in the cell wall and does not increase the in vitro digestibility of fiber in corn for silage. The latter observation is contrary to the general industry belief that water-stress increases fiber digestibility in forages.masters, M.S., Animal and Veterinary Science -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK FOR SOCIAL CAPITAL ASSESSMENT FOR SHORT-AND LONG-TERM POST-DISASTER RECOVERY: A CASE STUDY OF MANATEE COUNTY, FLORIDA
No full textThis research incorporates structuration theory to define social capital and develop a social capital framework to evaluate the network structures of recovery stakeholders, factors that influence the capabilities of structural social capital, and existing reliance on social capital for disaster response, and recovery. Research in Manatee County, Florida sought to: 1) to evaluate existing hazards plan of Manatee County to understand role of social capital in the recovery process, 2) model social network of recovery stakeholders to understand structure and position of stakeholders into decision-making process, 3) analyze opportunities and constraints for incorporating structural social capital into disaster recovery process. The evaluation of hazards plan of Manatee County indicate that plans are more focused on fact-based elements, with a limited incorporation of social capital. Modeling results indicate that Manatee County follows a more centralized network pattern, core stakeholders are comprised of governmental institutions with local social capital rich institutions are being peripheral in the recovery planning and decision-making process. Results also indicate that the capabilities of social institutions of Manatee County are low for factors such as fund, staff availability, network of agencies, formalized collaborative planning, and standardized training of non-governmental institutions. In the end, this research demonstrates that there is a need to address the role of social capital in disaster recovery process by evaluating existing hazards plans in that context, analyzing the social network of recovery stakeholders, and examining the capabilities of social institutions involved in the recovery process.doctoral, Ph.D., Geography -- University of Idaho - College of Graduate Studies, 2019-0
