Armando González-Cabán

A willingness-to-pay function for protecting acres of spotted owl habitat from fire

Abstract A contingent valuation survey was used to estimate the economic value to California and New England residents of implementing a fire management plan to reduce acres of old growth forests that burn in California and Oregon. Using a random effects probit model to account for the panel nature of the data, the average willingness to pay to reduce catastrophic fire on 2570 acres was

Economic benefits of maintaining ecological integrity of Rio Mameyes, in Puerto Rico

56 per household. Since acreage of habitat protected is a statistically significant variable in the willingness-to-pay function, this function can be used by managers to evaluate the incremental benefits of different fire management plans that reduce additional acres burned. These benefits can serve as justification for funding of prescribed fire and fuel reduction programs to protect critical habitat of the Northern and California Spotted Owl.

'SINAMI': a tool for the economic evaluation of forest fire management programs in Mediterranean ecosystems

Abstract A contingent valuation in-person survey of Puerto Rican households was performed to estimate their willingness to pay for preserving instream flows in the Rio Mameyes and avoiding a dam on the Rio Fajardo. Households annual willingness-to-pay amount was

Economic benefits of reducing fire-related sediment in southwestern fire-prone ecosystems

27 for the Rio Mameyes and

Language-Related Differences in a Contingent Valuation Study: English Versus Spanish

28 for the Rio Fajardo. When expanded to the one million households in Puerto Rico on an annual basis this amounts to

Economic vulnerability of timber resources to forest fires

11.33 million for the Rio Mameyes and

A joint estimation method to combine dichotomous choice CVM models with count data TCM models corrected for truncation and endogenous stratification.

13.09 million for the Rio Fajardo. The household values can be compared to the costs of repairing water lines and in-home water conservation measures to determine whether there are more net benefits to these alternative sources of water than withdrawals from the Rio Mameyes.

A methodology for determining operational priorities for prevention and suppression of wildland fires

Historically, in Spain and most European countries, forest fire budgets have never been subjected to an objective and rigorous economic analysis indicative of the returns on investments in fire management protection programs. Thus far we have witnessed expansive growth of costs without any investment planning. New economic realities and more focussed oversight by regulating organisations are forcing agencies with fire protection responsibilities toformallyjustifytheirfireprotectionbudgetrequests.Thefireeconomicsevaluationsystemdescribedhere(SINAMI)is thefirstattemptbySpainsNationalForestSystemtohelpagencieswithfireresponsibilitiesperformaneconomicanalysis of their budget requests for fire management and protection. SINAMI uses a marginal analysis and the economic criterion of cost-plus-net-value change (CþNVC) to determine the most efficient program and budget level for fire protection for a simulated fire season. The results are used in establishing strategic fire management plans to respond to historical fire situations. The model also provides information on number of fires and area affected by fire intensity level, as well as the number and type of firefighting resources used through the simulated fire season. The SINAMI model is based on the original structure of the National Fire Management Analysis System developed by the USDA Forest Service, expanded and adapted to Spanish conditions.

The effects of personal experience on choice-based preferences for wildfire protection programs

[I] A multiple regression analysis of fire interval and resulting sediment yield (controlling for relief ratio, rainfall, etc.) indicates that reducing the fire interval from the current average 22 years to a prescribed fire interval of 5 years would reduce sediment yield by 2 million cubic meters in the 86.2 square kilometer southern California watershed adjacent to and including the Angeles National Forest. This would have direct cost savings to Los Angeles County Public Works in terms of reduced debris basin clean out of

Estimating the economic value of big game habitat production from prescribed fire using a time series approach

24 million. The net present values of both 5- and IO-year prescribed fire intervals are positive. However, given other multiple use objectives of the USDA Forest Service, a IO-year prescribed fire interval may be more optimal than a 5-year fire interval. INDEX TERMS: 6304 Policy Sciences: Benefit-cost analysis; 6329 Policy Sciences: Project evduation; 18 15 Hydrology: Erosion and sedimentation; KEYWc)RDS: Ca~ifbrnia, erosion, forest fire, national forests, recreation, sediment