Skip to main content

FRAMES logo
Resource Catalog

Document

Type: Journal Article
Author(s): James R. Meldrum; Patricia A. Champ; Travis Warziniack; Hannah Brenkert-Smith; Christopher M. Barth; Lilia Colter Falk
Publication Date: 2014

Wildland-urban interface (WUI) homeowners who do not mitigate the wildfire risk on their properties impose a negative externality on society. To reduce the social costs of wildfire and incentivise homeowners to take action, cost sharing programs seek to reduce the barriers that impede wildfire risk mitigation. Using survey data from a WUI community in western Colorado and a two-stage decision framework, we examine residents' willingness to participate in a cost sharing program for removing vegetation on their properties and the amount they are willing to contribute to the cost of that removal. We find that different factors motivate decisions about participation and about how much to pay. Willingness to participate correlates with both financial and non-monetary considerations, including informational barriers and wildfire risk perceptions, but not with concerns about effectiveness or visual impacts. Residents of properties with higher wildfire risk levels are less likely to participate in the cost sharing than those with lower levels of wildfire risk. We find widespread, positive willingness to pay for vegetation removal, with the amount associated negatively with property size and positively with respondent income. These results can inform the development of cost sharing programs to encourage wildfire risk mitigation on private property.

Online Links
Citation: Meldrum, James R.; Champ, Patricia A.; Warziniack, Travis; Brenkert-Smith, Hannah; Barth, Christopher M.; Falk, Lilia Colter. 2014. Cost shared wildfire risk mitigation in Log Hill Mesa, Colorado: survey evidence on participation and willingness to pay. International Journal of Wildland Fire 23(4):567-576.

Cataloging Information

Regions:
Keywords:
  • Colorado
  • decision model
  • fire management
  • forest management
  • homeowner mitigation
  • non-market valuation
  • public information
  • risk mitigation
  • risk perception
  • statistical analysis
  • valuation
  • wildfires
  • willingness-to-pay
Tall Timbers Record Number: 30349Location Status: In-fileCall Number: Journals - IAbstract Status: Okay, Fair use, Reproduced by permission
Record Last Modified:
Record Maintained By: FRAMES Staff (https://www.frames.gov/contact)
FRAMES Record Number: 17612

This bibliographic record was either created or modified by Tall Timbers and is provided without charge to promote research and education in Fire Ecology. The E.V. Komarek Fire Ecology Database is the intellectual property of Tall Timbers.