The look of the land: Homeowner landscape management and wildfire preparedness in Minnesota and Florida

Kristen C Nelson; Martha C. Monroe; Jayne Fingerman Johnson

doi:10.1080/08941920590915233

The look of the land: Homeowner landscape management and wildfire preparedness in Minnesota and Florida

Kristen C Nelson, Martha C. Monroe, Jayne Fingerman Johnson

Forest Resources

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

79 Scopus citations

Abstract

Many forest and fire agencies seek to influence homeowners to manage vegetation near their home to reduce wildfire risk. To be successful managers need to understand the range of existing landscape typologies based on a defensible space evaluation, homeowners' activities for wildfire preparedness, and what they value in landscape attributes. Interviews and visits with 80 homeowners at risk of wildfire in the wildland-urban interface of northern Minnesota and central Florida reveal that respondents managed for "naturalness," valuing their privacy, wildlife, aesthetics, and recreation. Five landscape typologies in Minnesota and four in Florida ranged from wide-open spaces to homes nestled in the deep woods. The valuing of naturalness was most closely linked to the tendency for a deep woods landscape. Respondents noted that how they manage for what they value as well as the ecosystem they live in partially explained their behavior in creating defensible space around their homes.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	321-336
Number of pages	16
Journal	Society and Natural Resources
Volume	18
Issue number	4
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1080/08941920590915233
State	Published - Apr 2005

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
The authors thank John Dwyer, Susan Stewart, Paul Gobster, Sarah McCaffrey, Herbert Schroeder, and Pam Jakes of the U.S. Forest Service, North Central Research Station in Evanston, IL, and St. Paul, MN, for their insightful questions and support. We recognize Monica Missrie, Alison Bowers, Larry Korhnak, Jane Inouye, Janice Easton, Cotton Randall, Pam Archer, and Mark Myers for providing invaluable assistance with photographs, data collection, identifying communities, and data organization. This research was funded in part by the U.S. Forest Service North Central Research Station, Minnesota Experiment Station, number MIN-42-033, and University of Florida–Florida Agricultural Research Station and Journal Series No. R-xxxx.

Keywords

Defensible space
Homeowner behaviors
Landscape valuing
Vegetation management
Wildfire preparedness

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The look of the land: Homeowner landscape management and wildfire preparedness in Minnesota and Florida

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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