Burn Ban and Prescribed Burns - Farm Bureau Update Jan. 18, 2010

Attitudes and Perceptions on Fire Policy and Burn Bans in Texas

Preliminary Report: Jan. 13, 2009Texas Farm Bureau

Survey commissioned by Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative (GLCI)

Survey administered by Texas AgriLife Extension Service – Institute of Renewable Natural Resources

GoalsProvide snapshot look at how LOCAL

officials understand and perceive issues

Identify if disparity exists between counties and within counties on attitudes, implementation, perceptions

Focus areas for improvement

– Policy– Education– Outreach

Areas of Effort• Burn Bans and their implementation

– How they are initiated and removed– Levels of comfort in role – Decision factors and process

• Government Code– Level of guidance– Level of knowledge (self perception)

• Prescribe Fire and its use• Willingness and desire for outreach, education,

and tools

Areas for Analysis• Differentiate responses by role/position in the

county• Differentiate responses regionally (spatial and

geographical)• Interface between policy and ecology

– Management based on policy– Management based on ecology

• Qualitative measures– “how do you feel”– Levels versus absolutes– No right or wrong answers

Survey Design

• Attempt to limit bias in wording • Some questions asked multiple times, but

asked in differing ways• Attempt to eliminate questions where

respondents are “lead” to the answers

Survey Returns

81 (22%)

12 (3%)

33 (9%)

12 (3%)

18 (5%)

218 (59%)

Responses total: 369 Counties: 127

What resources do local officials use in their decision process?

Keetch-Bryam Drought Index

County Officials

Local Fire Officials

Local Prescribed Burn Specialist

County Attorney

State/Federal Officials

1= least important

5= most important

Ecology and Policy Interface

What do Burn Bans Protect?

Human Life

County Infrastructure

Homes and Buildings

Vegetation

Watershed integrity

Business, Urban structures

Agriculture commodities

329 (90%)

247 (90%)

354 (97%)

238 (90%)

176 (48%)

223 (61%)

314 (86%)

Burn Ban vs. Prescribed FireSimilar question to what is protected/benefits from a burn ban. Except this time, the area of emphasis is prescribed fire

Prescribe Fire Benefits

299 (84%)

234 (66%)

201 (56%)

263 (74%)

122 (34%)

213 (60%)

Burn Ban vs. Prescribed FireSimilar question to what is protected/benefits from a burn ban. Except this time, the area of emphasis is prescribed fire

If Prescribe Fire is “Good”, when is it “Not Good”?

When the “Good” goes “Bad”

28 (8%)

224 (63%)

110 (31%)

76 (22%)

Hmmm, what happened here? If 365

people took the survey, and only 225

answered this question what else might

that indicate?

Survey Impacts

How Can We Help

• Designed to help multiple partners in determining how their client programs fit into the survey results

• Designed to be a broad look at common topics in order to begin asking more detailed questions

• Designed to invoke action programs (more geared toward outreach)

Example: County Official Tenure

• Survey results– County commissioners avg. years of service = 7– County judge avg. years of service = 7

• Agency outcome (hypothetically)– AgriLife -Establish curriculum that can be administered over a 3

year period at V.G. Young Institute – TDA – Offer CEU/Certification credits to Commissioner Courts

for attending Burn Ban and Prescribed Fire management techniques

– FB???? Field day visits on property managed by prescribe fire? Policy development on encouraging “certification” for county officials?

Spatial Analysis

Suppressing potential fire is costly at the local level

(Q7a)

Guidance to Agencies/Organizations

What additional resources would be helpful in your decision process for IMPOSING a burn ban?

Improved fire behavior models

Guidance from agencies (TFS, NRCS, TDA, TPWD,TCEQ)

Hands on workshops and classes

Online workshops and classes

Next Steps

• Analyze results Feb. 2010• Publications with GLCI

Conferences:• March 20th – Brief to GLCI board • April 9 – Presentation at Trans Pecos Fire

Symposium• April 26 – 29 2nd Human Dimensions of

Wildland Fire Conference