Barbara J. Morehouse

INTEGRATED ASSESSMENT AS A STEP TOWARD REDUCING CLIMATE VULNERABILITY IN THE SOUTHWESTERN UNITED STATES

Abstract Managing the effects of climate change requires new approaches to develop and deliver relevant climate information to regional and local decision makers, and to infuse that knowledge into their decision support systems. In the southwestern United States an alternative approach to integrated climate assessment is changing how both researchers and stakeholders view climate information and vulnerability. In this region, climate assessment is an ongoing, sustained process to improve climate awareness, change scientific research on climate, build effective research–applications partnerships around climate variability and change, and maintain those partnerships. The multiple activities in this regional climate assessment serve as a pilot for a broader climate services organization in the United States, and both highlight the crucial need for regional climate services and provide important lessons for implementation.

A Functional Approach to Boundaries in the Context of Environmental Issues

In 1989, the Soviet Union fractured into its constituent republics. In the space of a very short time, the existing maps of the world became obsolete, and a whole new political-geographical perspective had to be developed. Though monumental in its implications, such a radical change in the geography of world politics is not as rare as some would believe. An excursion into the boundary politics of any geographical area reveals that boundaries do not exist as separate and independent entities, but persist only to the extent that they are reinforced through social discourse and practice. From this perspective, boundaries constitute important inputs to, and outcomes of, relations of power regarding territory and resources (see Foucault 1982 for a discussion the dynamics of power relations; see Taylor 1994 and Thomas 1994 for discussions of nation-state boundaries as manifestations of power). Thus, as border scholars are well aware, far from being drawn in indelible ink, boundaries are dynamic in time and space and are, in the last analysis, one of the primary ways in which we construct and reinforce geographies of difference. Because they are intimately connected with the exercise of power - and resistance - boundaries not only reflect the outcome of political contests but by their very existence stand ready to serve as important inputs to subsequent contests over the location, size and configuration of the defined and bounded space.

Integrating values and risk perceptions into a decision support system

One of the thorniest challenges to effective wildland fire management is integration of public perceptions and values into science-based adaptive management. One promising alternative is incorporation of public values into place-based decision support technologies that are accessible to lay citizens as well as to fire-management experts. A survey of individuals, including residents, fire and fuels managers, volunteer firefighters, and others living in or near four mountain areas of the US Southwest, identified a set of personal values and perceptions about wildland fire risk that could be spatially represented in a geographic information science-based decision support system designed for wildland fire strategic planning efforts. We define values, in this context, as phenomena that are not necessarily quantifiable but that strongly attract and connect individuals for whatever reasons to particular areas. Inclusion of this type of information into interactive decision tools for fire management may contribute to improved understanding and finer-scale spatial visualisation of public perceptions of fire risk. The integration of such factors in decision support tools offers opportunities for improving interactions between managers and the public involved in strategic planning processes for fire management.

Wildland Fire Governance: Perspectives from Greece

Summer wildfires blazing across the landscapes of the northern Mediterranean invariably galvanize public attention and attract firefighting resources from the European Union and beyond. Institutions, including not only laws and policies, but also those who implement the policies, such as public firefighting groups, and local-to-national-scale departments and agencies, have a strong influence on environmental events such as wildfire occurrence and on societys role in managing the risk associated with such events. Indeed, wildfire serves as a useful metaphor for many environmental problems confronting society today. In this paper, we examine policies, rules, and practices that impede effective governance of wildfire threat in the fire-prone landscapes of Greece. We suggest ways how institutional impediments, such as funding levels and viable implementation options, might be improved. We stress the importance of understanding the roles played by social institutions, values, and practices.

Facilitating Public Involvement in Strategic Planning for Wildland Fire Management

Wildland fire creates a complex relationship between federal agencies and public stakeholders. Questions surrounding the publics role in federal wildland fire management point to broader questions about the relationships among scientists, policymakers, federal agencies, and the public. In this article we report on a project to provide information about the key components of federal policies that govern wildland fire management. The goal is to enhance the decision support capabilities of a geographic information system (GIS)-based fire risk model and the capacity of users to interpret the outputs of the model from a fire policy perspective. We conclude by making recommendations for how this and other such tools might be refined to improve and expand policy interactions among government land and resource management agencies, scientists, and the public.

Water : What values ?

Abstract The notion that water is an essential resource is now universally accepted and the concept will continue to play an important role in the years to come. But what kind of water are we considering and what values should be attributed to it in function of its origin, its quality and the needs of the person or people who are talking about it? The aim of this paper is to examine different kinds of water, from river water to tap water, rainwater to recycled water, and to analyse the value or values attached to each kind of water in terms of the function of the type of usage attributed to it in various spatio-temporal contexts.

Narratives of Wildfire: Coverage in Four U.S. Newspapers, 1999-2003

The years 1999 through 2003 were marked by intense episodes of wildland fire in the United States and an increased interest in covering fire policy and practice in the media. Analysis of articles published in four newspapers over this time period reveals important differences in reporting emphases, as reflected in the narrative story lines that defined coverage. Identification of how these narratives came to be similarly and differentially constituted as story lines may be useful for fostering better decisions and strengthening public awareness of serious risks as well as willingness to address those risks.

Heritage, public trust and non-market values in water governance

Abstract The concepts of public trust and heritage protection offer opportunities for refining discourses and practices surrounding governance of water resources for under-represented non-market values, particularly values that do not lend themselves readily to standard market-based economic analyses. Public trust in the United States, though far from a panacea, offers insights into how such values may be asserted within particular place-based contexts. Outside the U.S., heritage-based governance of water resources represents a similar effort for integrating such values. In both cases, changes in governance are linked to specific local conditions, history, and values. Examination of these two institutional frameworks suggests that experimentation drawing upon key concepts and mechanisms from both may facilitate better integration of non-market values (social, cultural, and ecological) into water and environmental governance.

Climate and Water in Transboundary Contexts

In many parts of the world, population growth, urbanization trends, and economic development and restructuring have elevated water resource issues to unprecedented importance. Even modest variations in supply or demand can generate large social consequences. As management and control of water resources has grown as a political and economic force in most parts of the world, understanding the potential impacts of current and future climate conditions on hydrologic processes and water supplies has become ever more critical.