Margaret A. Reams

Measuring Community Resilience to Coastal Hazards along the Northern Gulf of Mexico

The abundant research examining aspects of social-ecological resilience, vulnerability, and hazards and risk assessment has yielded insights into these concepts and suggested the importance of quantifying them. Quantifying resilience is complicated by several factors including the varying definitions of the term applied in the research, difficulties involved in selecting and aggregating indicators of resilience, and the lack of empirical validation for the indices derived. This paper applies a new model, called the resilience inference measurement (RIM) model, to quantify resilience to climate-related hazards for 52 U.S. counties along the northern Gulf of Mexico. The RIM model uses three elements (exposure, damage, and recovery indicators) to denote two relationships (vulnerability and adaptability), and employs both K-means clustering and discriminant analysis to derive the resilience rankings, thus enabling validation and inference. The results yielded a classification accuracy of 94.2% with 28 predictor variables. The approach is theoretically sound and can be applied to derive resilience indices for other study areas at different spatial and temporal scales.

The Link between Recycling and Litter A Field Study

The purpose of our research was to determine whether residential recycling programs introduced an additional benefit-reduced litter. We evaluated the proposition that such programs should impart to participants a heightened environmental awareness and understanding that may encourage them to litter less and/or pick up more accumulated litter. We examined accumulated litter by various types-recyclable litter, recyclable accessories, and nonrecyclable litter-in selected neighborhoods before and after the implementation of the Baton Rouge, Louisiana, curbside recycling program. We found that recyclable lifter decreased significantly after the onset of the program. However, there was no similar decline in other types of litter. Although participants were motivated to discard fewer recyclables and/or pick up more recyclable litter after Implementation of the program, this behavior did not carry over to the proper disposal of nonrecyclable lifter.

LINKING ACTIONS TO OUTCOMES IN WETLAND MANAGEMENT: AN OVERVIEW OF U.S. STATE WETLAND MANAGEMENT

Despite a national focus on saving wetland systems in the U.S., evaluations of wetland resources and management outcomes have been limited. A fifty-state survey of wetland managers was conducted in order to collect information on (1) wetland resources, (2) management actions taken, and (3) management impact on the resources (wetlands). An overview of the general status of state knowledge of the quantity and quality of their wetland resources is presented. Results indicate that most states have a rough estimate of the resources and most have wetland conservation plans and intend to develop better databases of wetland resources. However, few states track management actions relevant to wetlands and fewer have any idea of the success or impact of past management actions. The ability to assess program effectiveness is key to implementing adaptive management frameworks. A number of lessons learned suggest a basic framework for future wetland management that includes state planning, better quantification (mapping) of wetlands, development of methods to measure wetland quality, and tracking of wetland management actions and outcomes. This framework could also be used as an outline for the development of a more adaptive approach to wetland management.

Political and environmental equity issues related to municipal waste incineration siting

Abstract This analysis presents an overview of recent research concerning factors influencing community responses to municipal incinerators. These factors range from those about which experts and lay people may readily agree, such as the years of service remaining in an existing landfill, to issues that are more likely to engender disagreement, such as community perceptions of environmental risks, ‘environmental equity’, and other economic and political concerns. The implications of these factors as well as recommendations for decision makers facing municipal solid waste disposal issues are presented.

Addressing Emerging Risks: Scientific and Regulatory Challenges Associated with Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals

Airborne fine and ultrafine particulate matter (PM) are often generated through widely-used thermal processes such as the combustion of fuels or the thermal decomposition of waste. Residents near Superfund sites are exposed to PM through the inhalation of windblown dust, ingestion of soil and sediments, and inhalation of emissions from the on-site thermal treatment of contaminated soils. Epidemiological evidence supports a link between exposure to airborne PM and an increased risk of cardiovascular and pulmonary diseases. It is well-known that during combustion processes, incomplete combustion can lead to the production of organic pollutants that can adsorb to the surface of PM. Recent studies have demonstrated that their interaction with metal centers can lead to the generation of a surface stabilized metal-radical complex capable of redox cycling to produce ROS. Moreover, these free radicals can persist in the environment, hence their designation as Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals (EPFR). EPFR has been demonstrated in both ambient air PM2.5 (diameter < 2.5 µm) and in PM from a variety of combustion sources. Thus, low-temperature, thermal treatment of soils can potentially increase the concentration of EPFR in areas in and around Superfund sites. In this review, we will outline the evidence to date supporting EPFR formation and its environmental significance. Furthermore, we will address the lack of methodologies for specifically addressing its risk assessment and challenges associated with regulating this new, emerging contaminant.

State Wetland Protection: A Matter of Context?

Models of integrated management emphasize the role of the surrounding socioeconomic and political environment in influencing management choices for natural resources. In this study, we explore a model that examines the influence of socioeconomic and political variables on the wetland management programs of U.S. states. Logistic regression was used to identify environmental, socioeconomic, and political variables that explained variation in state wetland programs. The likelihood of strong planning, nonregulatory, regulatory, and overall programs increases as the importance of fisheries in the state increases (p < 0.05), but decreases as population density increases (p < 0.15). Furthermore, there is an increasing likelihood of stronger regulatory and overall programs as environmental group activity and industry importance increases (p < 0.05). These findings provide empirical evidence to support the contention that management approaches used in one state often must be adapted to fit the realities of another given state.Models of integrated management emphasize the role of the surrounding socioeconomic and political environment in influencing management choices for natural resources. In this study, we explore a model that examines the influence of socioeconomic and political variables on the wetland management programs of U.S. states. Logistic regression was used to identify environmental, socioeconomic, and political variables that explained variation in state wetland programs. The likelihood of strong planning, nonregulatory, regulatory, and overall programs increases as the importance of fisheries in the state increases (p < 0.05), but decreases as population density increases (p < 0.15). Furthermore, there is an increasing likelihood of stronger regulatory and overall programs as environmental group activity and industry importance increases (p < 0.05). These findings provide empirical evidence to support the contention that management approaches used in one state often must be adapted to fit the realities o...

A Review of State and Local Regulation for Wildfire Mitigation

Wildfire may result from natural processes or as the result of human actions (Ffolliott 1988, Mees 1990). As a natural phenomenon, it is important in sustaining forest health in fire-dependent ecosystems. While some wildfire may be ecologically beneficial, it poses a threat to residential communities located within or adjacent to the forest. Wildfire is considered a hazard when it endangers things that people value, such as life, property and cultural values (Burton et al. 1978). Each year the challenge of protecting Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) communities captures headlines in American newspapers, as wildfire forces the evacuation of homes. State governments have been granted police powers to protect the health, safety and welfare of their citizens by the Constitution. With regards to land use policy, the states pass this power to local governments enabling them to adopt regulations to control situations that pose a threat to life and property. In response to wildfire-related losses in the WUI, two states and numerous county and local governments have established regulatory programs to reduce wildfire hazards in high risk areas.

Influences on Adaptive Planning to Reduce Flood Risks among Parishes in South Louisiana

Residents of south Louisiana face a range of increasing, climate-related flood exposure risks that could be reduced through local floodplain management and hazard mitigation planning. A major incentive for community planning to reduce exposure to flood risks is offered by the Community Rating System (CRS) of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). The NFIP encourages local collective action by offering reduced flood insurance premiums for individual policy holders of communities where suggested risk-reducing measures have been implemented. This preliminary analysis examines the extent to which parishes (counties) in southern Louisiana have implemented the suggested policy actions and identifies key factors that account for variation in the implementation of the measures. More measures implemented results in higher CRS scores. Potential influences on scores include socioeconomic attributes of residents, government capacity, average elevation and past flood events. The results of multiple regression analysis indicate that higher CRS scores are associated most closely with higher median housing values. Furthermore, higher scores are found in parishes with more local municipalities that participate in the CRS program. The number of floods in the last five years and the revenue base of the parish does not appear to influence CRS scores. The results shed light on the conditions under which local adaptive planning to mitigate increasing flood risks is more likely to be implemented and offer insights for program administrators, researchers and community stakeholders.

Community Resilience to Drought Hazard in the South-Central United States

Drought is a hazard that inflicts costly damage to agricultural, hydrologic, and ecological systems and affects human health and prosperity. A comprehensive assessment of resilience to the drought hazard in various communities and an identification of the main variables that affect resilience is crucial to coping with the hazard and promoting resilience. This study assessed the community resilience to drought hazards of all 503 counties of Arkansas, Louisiana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas using the resilience inference measurement (RIM) model for the period of 2000 to 2015. Through k-means cluster analysis, stepwise discriminant analysis (74.7 percent accuracy, 72.8 percent leave-one-out cross-validation accuracy), and regression analysis (adjusted R2 = 0.69), four variables (significant at p < 0.05) representing the social, economic, agriculture, and health sectors were identified as the main resilience indicators. Higher resilience counties were found in central Oklahoma and eastern Texas, with the few highest counties located near large metropolitan areas such as Dallas, Houston, Austin, and Albuquerque. Lower resilience counties were concentrated in western Texas. The study provides useful insights into the relationship between drought incidence, inflicted damage, and community resilience.

Water conservation practices for improving water-use policy in irrigated rice

Rice will continue to be a staple crop for the majority of the worlds population and, thus, its production will require a significant commitment to maintaining large amounts of fresh available water. The water use efficiency of two traditional water management practices used in irrigated rice culture was studied: alternate flooding and drying as well as continuous flooding. The findings indicate that the alternate flooding and drying treatment could reduce water use by 13–29% and increase rice grain yield by 33–36%. These results demonstrate that there is significant potential to increase water use efficiency in wetland rice culture without reducing rice grain yield. Moreover, the results can be used to strengthen government water-use policies in irrigated rice farming systems.