Urban Wildland Interactions Team

Projects ::

Ralph Alig	Jean Daniels
Dale Blahna	Geoffrey Donovan
Lee Cerveny	Kathleen Wolf

Ralph Alig [ view scientist's webpage ]

Incentive Design for Carbon Sequestration Involving Afforestation and Forest Management

Documentation of 6th North American Forestry and Agriculture Greenhouse Gas Modeling Forum

Urban Forests and Vibrant Communities: An Empirical Investigation of the Linkage in the Portland/Vancouver Area

This project, in cooperation with Ned Stone and Junjie Wu (Oregon State University), uses spatially explicit data and GIS software to investigate the linkages between household locational choice and community characteristics in support of planners working toward balancing growth and open-space preservation.

Websites:

Forestry and Agriculture Greenhouse Modeling Forum
Land Use and Natural Resource Economics Research Group

A National-Scale Spatial Econometric Model of Land-Use Change

How Well Have Oregon’s Land Use Regulations Protected Resource Lands from Development?

How land use change, land management investment, and climate change interact as drivers of changes in wildlife habitat, including any future land use changes associated with mitigation activities

An update and extension to studies of costs of sequestering carbon in forests

Developing scenarios for quantifying how national and regional renewable electricity standards might influence the forest and agriculture sectors.

Simulating voluntary enrollment in forest carbon offset sales programs in FASOMGHG

Examining options for, and GHG impacts of, federal land management both in isolation and in concert with a private sector GHG offsets programs

Dale Blahna [ view scientist's webpage ]

Cultural Ecosystem Services of the Deschutes National Forest

Exploring Forest Cultural Ecosystem Services

The Pacific Northwest Research Station is working with the Deschutes National Forest to develop and demonstrate use of the ecosystem services concept as a framework for forest stewardship. This project will identify public and agency staff perceptions of ecosystem services and improve understanding of cultural ecosystem services

OnePager | Involving Forest Communities in Identifying and Constructing Ecosystem Services | PNW-GTR-852

Prince William Sound Framework: Development of a Sustainable Human Use Plan

NEPA Planning and Decision-making for US Forest Service Recreation Projects

Community Stakeholder and Manager Perceptions of Fuel Treatments, Smoke, and Wildfie in the Pacific Northwest

Urban Environmental Stewardship Organization Census, Network Analysis, and Participant Motivations

Green Cities Research Alliance: Urban Forest Health and Ecosystem Services Tools and Analyses In Puget Sound

More than 80 percent of the Pacific Northwest region’s population lives in urbanized areas. A new research program is coming together in the Puget Sound area. Program studies will focus on the social and environmental situations where people live, learn, work, and play. This knowledge will help us to create more sustainable urban areas and more livable cities.

GCRA Website

Mapping and Understanding the Benefits of Civic Environmental Stewardship

Management of Private Forestland for Carbon and Climate Change Outcomes in King County

Use of National Visitor Use Monitoring Data for Analyzing Recreation Trends and Economic Values

Urban Forests and Vibrant Communities in the Portland-Vancouver Area

Linkage of Visitor Use Permits and Community Vulnerability for the Tongass and Chugach National Forests

Resilience in Amenity Transition Communities

Lee Cerveny [ view scientist's webpage ]

Human Ecology Mapping Project (w/ Institute for Culture & Ecology & Portland State University)

The Human Ecology Mapping (HEM) Project is an applied research study designed to capture complex human-ecological relationships at multiple spatial scales and to present this information in a form that resource managers can use for planning and decision-making. The project focuses on the entire Olympic Peninsula region (Washington) and seeks to identify the diverse connections people have to the land.

Brochure | Aggregate Briefs | Poster

Exurban Residential Choice Project (w/ Oregon State University)

National Forest Partnership Research Project (w/ Southern Illinois University

Latino Harvester Safety Project (w/ Institute for Culture & Ecology)

Nonrecreational Campers and National Forests Project (w/ Oregon State University)

Geoffrey Donovan [ view scientist's webpage ]

Urban trees and the risk of poor birth outcomes

There is increasing evidence that greenness can improve the health of urban residents. This project investigates whether greater tree-canopy cover is associated with reduced risk of poor birth outcomes in Portland, Oregon.

Personal Website | Publication

Research in wildfire economics has covered a range of topics including:

Optimal Deployment of Suppression Resources

The costs of agency and contract crews

Decision making under uncertainty

The effect of wildfire risk on the housing market

The effect of newspaper coverage and political pressure on wildfire suppression costs

The interdependence of homeowners’ wildfire risk

Research in urban forestry topics include:

Estimating the impact of trees on house prices, rental prices, crime, energy use, and birth outcomes

Kathleen Wolf [ view scientist's webpage ]

Green Cities: Good Health - A Review fo the Scientific Evidence

Having gardens, parks, and trees in cities is profoundly important, as people’s experiences of nearby nature provide many benefits including better health, increased worker productivity, safer communities, and reduced stress. This project is a review of nearly 40 years of research, and summarizes evidence that encourages better planning, development, and management of urban nature.

Project Briefing | Website |

Publications:

Wolf, K.L. 2011. Green Cities for Good Health: A Tool for Urban Forestry Advocacy. City Trees: Journal of the Society of Municipal Arborists, 7, 2: 8-15. [ view pdf ]

Wolf, K.L. 2008. Metro Nature Services: Functions, Benefits and Values, pp. 294-315. In: S.M. Wachter and E.L. Birch (Eds.), Growing Greener Cities: Urban Sustainability in the Twenty-First Century. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 416 pp. [ view pdf ]

Human Dimensions of Urban Forestry and Urban Gardening:

Trees and Business - Growing Together
A National Research Program

Urban Small Malls:
Public Response to Strip Malls and Roadside Landscapes

Trees Are Good for Business:
Guidelines for Planning, Planting, and Managing Trees in Business Districts

Trees and Revitalizing Business Districts in Large Cities:
A Survey of Consumers & Merchants

Trees in Small City Business Districts:
Comparing Responses of Residents & Potential Visitors

The Urban Forest in the Athens, GA Business District:
Case Study Research on Consumers and Trees in a Mid-Size City

Urban Trees and Traffic Safety

Large Transportation Structures - Human Perception

Trees and Parking Lots - Green Law for Urban Sustainability

Beyond the White Line: Public Response to the Urban Freeway Roadside

Freeway Roadside Landscape and Community Perceptions

Urban Natural Resources Stewardship

Trees, Nature and Human Physical Activity

Psychology and Sustainability

Human Dimensions of Water Quality

Youth and Urban Nature Experiences:
Assessing Impacts, Benefits and Behaviors

Trees and Community Economic Development

Green Infrastructure, Ecosystem Services, and Social Benefits

Creating Change with Science:
Science Communications and Local Urban Forestry Policy

Assessment of Urban Forest Management in Washington State Cities

Urban Forestry Research Needs and Priorities - Pacific Northwest U.S.

U.S. National Urban Forestry Research Needs and Priorities

International Urban Greening – Japan